GUIPT  OF 
Miss   Sue  Dunbar 


THE 


LIFE 


THOMAS   PAINE, 


AUTHOR   OF 


"COMMON  SENSE,"  "RIGHTS  OF  MAN,"  "AGE  OF  REASON,"  &c.,  &e, 


WITH  CRITICAL  AND  EXPLANATORY 


OBSERVATIONS  ON  HIS  WRITINGS; 


AND 


AN  APPEND1I, 


CONTAINING 


HIS  LETTERS   TO  WASHINGTON, 


SUPPRESSED  IN  HIS  WORKS  AT  PRESENT  PUBLISHED  IN  THIS  COUNTRY. 


BY   G.   VALE, 

EDITOR     OF    THE    BEACON. 


NEW    YORK: 

PUBLISHED  BY   THE  AUTHOR, 

BEACON  OFFICE,  84  ROSEVELT  ST. 

1841. 


\£4-/ 


PREFACE. 


THERE  are  four  lives  of  Mr.  Thomas  Paine  now  extant ;  but 
none  in  print  in  the  United  States.  Francis  Oldys,  or  a  person 
under  that  name,  wrote  a  life  of  Mr.  Paine  about  the  year 
1792,  while  Mr.  Paine  was  yet  alive,  and  active  in  the  prog- 
ress of  the  French  Revolution.  This  life  was  written  in  fact 
by  George  Chalmers,  one  of  the  clerks  of  the  Board  of  Plant- 
ation, at  the  instigation  of  Lord  Hawksbury,  afterward  Lord 
Liverpool,  for  which  he  gave  him  five  hundred  pounds.  Mr. 
Chalmers  acknowledged  the  authorship  of  this  book.  This 
we  have  never  seen ;  it  has  sunk  into  oblivion  ;  it  partly  served 
the  political  purpose  for  which  it  was  written^  but  the  enemies 
of  Mr.  Paine  and  the  Rights  of  Man  were  too  prudent  to  en- 
dorse its  acknowledged  calumnies,  and  identify  themselves 
with  this  transaction. 

Immediately  after  the  death  of  Paine,  Cheetham  wrote  his 
life  in  1809.  Cheetham  was  an  Englishman  and  had  been  a 
5  zealous  disciple  of  Paine,  both  in  politics  and  religion  ;  but 
he  had  retrogaded  in  politics,  and  deserted  the  principles  of 
the  democratic  party  ;  Paine  had  attacked  him  with  his  accus- 
tomed force,  and  thus  converted  him  into  a  personal  enemy. 
Mr.  Cheetham  at  this  time  edited  a  party  paper  (the  Citizen) 
in  New  York,  and  while  he  was  yet  smarting  under  the  lash 
of  Paine,  heated  by  party  politics,  and  fired  with  revengCj 
like  the  ass  in  the  fable,  he  kicked,  not  indeed  the  dying,  but 
the  dead  lion,  by  writing  the  life  of  his  adversary.  Cheet* 


4  PREFACE. 

ham,  however,  connected  this  with  a  scheme  of  interest ;  for,' 
becoming  the  deadly  enemy  of  democracy,  and  losing  the 
support  of  his  old  friends  (for  he  was  turned  out  of  the  Tam- 
many society),  he  was  preparing  to  go  to  Europe,  and  enlist 
in  support  of  the  tory  government  in  England,  by  publishing 
a  paper  opposed  to  Cobbett,  who  had  just  come  out  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  government ;  and  Cheetham  apparently  meant  this 
life  of  Paine  as  a  passport  to  the  British  treasury  favor :  at 
least,  such  was  the  opinion  of  the  intimate  friend  of  Cheet- 
ham, Mr.  Charles  Christian,  who  gave  this  relation  to  Mr. 
John  Fellows  and  others,  whom  we  have  seen,  and  from  whom 
we  have  learned  this  fact.  This  life  of  Paine,  the  only  one 
published  in  the  United  States,  abounds  in  calumnies,  and  af- 
ter a  lapse  of  some  years  caused  the  production  of  two  other 
lives,  one  by  Clio  Rickman,  the  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Paine 
for  many  years,  and  another  by  Mr.  W.  T.  Sherwin,  both  pub- 
lished in  London.  Mr.  Rickman  was  an  excellent,  amiable 
man,  of  the  quaker  profession,  with  whom  Mr.  Paine  lived 
both  in  England  and  France,  at  different  periods,  and  with 
whom  he  kept  up  a  constant  correspondence.  The  life  of 
Paine,  however,  by  Mr.  Rickman,  is  sullied  by  a  little  vanity  ; 
he  is  to  Paine,  what  Boswell  was  to  Johnson.  We  are  indebt- 
ed to  Mr.  Rickman  for  many  facts  on  which  we  can  rely ;  but 
with  the  best  intentions  he  was  not  the  man  to  do  Mr.  Paine 
justice. 

The  best  life  of  Paine  before  published,  is  that  of  Sherwin  ; 
and  from  this  life  we  shall  freely  extract.  But  Mr.  Sherwin 
is  incorrect  on  some  points,  and  his  whole  work  is  so  exclu- 
sively adapted  to  a  London  reader,  that  it  is  deteriorated 
for  this  market.  Mr.  Paine  changed  public  opinion  in  favor 
of  a  republic  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution ;  his  earliest  en- 
ergies were  in  favor  of  American  liberty ;  it  was  here  that  his 
mighty  powers  were  first  developed,  and  here  his  political 
principles  took  root.  'His  success  in  the  United  Statesbrought 
him  out  in  Europe  ;  and  his  "  Rights  of  Man,"  which  shook  the 
corrupt  government  of  England,  and  endeared  him  to  all 
France  and  every  friend  of  liberty,  was  based  upon  his  "  Com- 
mon Sense,"  which  had  concentrated  public  opinion  in  favor 
of  a  declaration  of  independence.  And  when  the  buds  of 


PREFACE.  4  0 

liberty  were  nipped  in  England  and  France,  to  this  country 
Mr.  Paine  retired,  as  his  proper,  home,  at  the  invitation  of 
Jefferson,  then  the  president,  and  avowedly  the  greatest  and 
best  statesman  this  country  has  known.  And  here,  too,  he 
died  in  peace,  in  a  good  old  age,  the  firm  and  consistent  friend 
of  liberty.  To  this  country,  then,  in  a  special  manner  belongs 
his  life  ;  here  are  his  most  numerous  friends  and  personal  ac- 
quaintances ;  it  is  here  that  the  calumnies  propagated  by 
Cheetham  may  be  effectually  rebutted,  by  living  witnesses 
yet  in  the  sound  possession  of  their  faculties ;  and  it  is  here 
that  Paine  can  be  identified  with  every  crisis  in  the  glorious 
Revolution  which  gave  birth  to  this  nation,  which  has  set  the  / 
glorious  example  of  republicanism,  whose  principles  'are  now 
progressing  in  the  world.  The  want  of  a  life  thus  identifying 
Mr.  Paine  with  the  glories  of  our  Revolution,  is  our  apology 
for  our  preserit  undertaking. 

The  life  of  Paine  by  Cheetham  has  had  a  considerable 
influence  ;  for  though  his  calumnies  are  palpable,  and  his  mo- 
tives in  publishing  them  apparent,  he  has  given  to  them  a  de- 
gree of  credibility  by  the  free  use  of  names,  which  the  reader 
necessarily  concludes  are  respectable  references  for  the  facts 
he  has  stated ;  fortunately,  however,  a  public  trial,  in  which 
he  was  convicted  of  libely  showed  the  shallow  foundation  on 
which  his  slander  rested,  and  our  acquaintance  with  some  of 
the  persons  to  whom  he  refers,  enables  us  flatly  to  contradict 
these  statements,  and  to  denounce  him  on  the  very  authority 
of  many  of  his  references  as  the  utterer  of  gross  falsehoods, 
to  which  he  attached  without  their  consent  their  names. 
With  much  ingenuity  he  relates  a  slander  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
as  if  there  were  abundance  of  evidence,  and  apparently  refers 
to  the  only  source  of  this  slander,  as  if  this  formed  but  a 
small  part  of  his  proof.  Thus  he  declared  Madame  Bonne- 
ville  to  be  the  mistress  of  T.  Paine,  as  if  that  fact  were  no- 
torious ;  he  produces  no  proof,  but  inserts  a  letter  from  Mr. 
W.  Carver,  written  in  anger,  after  a  quarrel,  in  which  such  an 
insinuation  is  made,  merely  from  the  fact  of  that  lady  bringing 
her  family  to  America,  and  leaving  her  husband  in  France. 
Madame  Bonneville  prosecuted  Cheetham  for  this  assertion, 
and  Cheetham  on  that  trial  produced  no  other  evidence  than 


6  PREFACE. 

Carver  and  his  angry  letter.  His  counsel  admitted  the  false- 
ness of  the  charge,  and  pleaded  only  the  insinuation  in  Car- 
ver's letter  as  justifying  Cheetham  as  an  historian  to  repeat 
the  slander* 

This  trial  excited  great  interest  at  the  time.  The  press 
generally  reported  it  j  and  the  brief  facts  with  the  counsel's 
speech  have  been  preserved  in  a  pamphlet  form,  from  which 
pamphlet  we  shall  give  the  introduction  and  a  few  extracts  as 
pertinent  to  our  object :  — 

[THE  INTRODUCTION.] 

"  One  James  Cheetham,  a  man  who  had  once  been  an  editor 
of  a  republican  paper  in  New  York,  had  abandoned  his  past 
professions,  and  become  the  advocate  of  the  British  party  in 
America.  Among  other  means  to  serve  them,  he  undertook 
to  write  the  life  of  Thomas  Paine,  author  of '  Common  Sense,' 
*  Rights  of  Man,'  &c.,  &c.  In  this  biography,  he  introduced 
the  name  of  Madame  Bonneville,  a  virtuous  and  respectable 
lady,  the  wife  of  N.  Bonneville  of  Paris.  He  charged  her 
with  prostitution ;  said  Paine  was  her  paramour,  and  that  one 
of  her  sons  had  the  features,  countenance,  and  temper  of 
Thomas  Paine.  For  this  atrocious  attack  on  the  character  of 
Madame  Bonneville,  and  outrage  to  her  feelings,  Mr.  Cheet- 
ham was  indicted  for  a  libel,  and  on  the  19th  of  June,  1810, 
his  trial  was  brought  on. 

The  counsel  for  the  libeller  took  two  grounds  of  defence  : 

1st.  That  the  facts  charged  were  true. 

2d.  That  the  defendant  was  an  HISTORIAN,  and,  as  such,  had 
a  right  to  publish  what  he  had  heard  and  believed,  though  it 
reflected  on  an  innocent  person. 

The  first  position  was,  after  a  contemptible  effort  to  support 
it,  abandoned  even  by  the  libeller's  counsel.  They  were 
ashamed  of  it  themselves.  Several  ladies  of  the  first  distinc- 
tion, whose  daughters  had  been  intrusted  to  the  care  of  Mad- 
ame Bonneville,  to  learn  the  French  language,  appeared  in 
court,  and  attested  to  the  unblemished  character  of  this  much- 
injured  female. 

The  counsel  for  the  libeller  than  had  recourse  to  their  last 
ground,  and  strenuously  maintained  the  principle  they  had 
laid  down.  They  perhaps  felt  confidence  in  the  court,  as  it 
had,  in  an  early  stage  of  the  trial,  intimated  an  opinion  favor- 
able to  the  new  and  extravagant  pretension,  which  set  up  a 
libeller  under  the  title  of  an  historian.  Nor  was  this  confi- 
dence misplaced.  Mr.  Recorder  Hoffman  directed  the  jury, 
that  if  they  should  be  of  opinion,  that  Mr.  Cheetham  had 


PREFACE.  7 

been  informed  of  what  he  wrote,  and  believed  it,  he  was  justi- 
fied, and  that,  though  Madame  Bonneville  was  an  innocent 
woman,  they  were  authorized  to  acquit  Mr.  Cheetham.  He 
also  read  the  letter  of  a  man,  by  the  name  of  Carver,  as  a 
justification  of  the  libeller,  though  his  counsel  had  not  men- 
tioned it. 

This  monstrous  doctrine,  which  leads  to  the  prostration  of 
private  reputation,  if  not  to  the  dissolution  of  civil  society, 
was  promptly  rejected  by  the  jury,  although  composed  of  men 
of  different  political  sentiments,  who  returned  in  a  few  min- 
utes a  verdict  of  guilty. 

The  court,  however,  when  the  libeller  came  up  the  next 
day  to  receive  his  sentence,  highly  commended  the  book 
which  contained  the  libellous  publication,  declared  that  it 
tended  to  serve  the  cause  of  religion,  and  imposed  no  other 
punishment  on  the  libeller,  than  the  payment  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars,  with  a  direction  that  the  costs  be  taken  out 
of  it. 

It  is  fit  to  remark,  lest  foreigners  who  are  unacquainted 
with  our  political  condition,  should  receive  erroneous  impres^ 
sions,  that  Mr.  Recorder  Hoffman  does  not  belong  to  what  is 
called  the  republican  party  in  America,  but  has  been  elevated 
to  office  by  men  in  hostility  to  it,  who  obtained  a  temporary 
ascendency  in  the  councils  of  the  state." 

EXTRACTS  FROM  MR.  SAMPSON^  SPEECH  ON  THE  TRIAL  OF  MR.  JAMES 
CHEETHAM,  FOR  A  LIBEL  ON  MRS.  MARGARET  BONNEVILLE,  IN  HIS 
LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

"  In  every  other  grief  than  that  which  this  historian  has  in- 
flicted on  her  the  innocent  find  comfort ;  for  innocence  is  in 
all  other  wrongs,  against  all  other  strokes  of  man's  injustice 
or  oppression,  a  sevenfold  shield.  Not  so  where  woman's 
honor  is  assailed ;  suspicion  there  is  worse  than  death  itself. 
It  is  that  for  which  alone  the  innocent  wife  of  Cesar  was  repu- 
diated. The  man  who  dares  attack  it  is  of  all  other  criminals 
the  greatest.  If  he  be  not  a  traitor  it  is  for  this  alone  that  he 
is  worse.  For  many  a  man  has  suffered  as  a  traitor,  whom 
after-ages  have  revered  and  honored.  But  never  was  he  who 
set  his  cloven-hoof  upon  a  woman's  honor  worthy  the  name 
of  man. 

[Here  the  defendant  rose  and  claimed  the  protection  of  the 
court,  not  so  much  with  a  desire  to  prevent  the  range  of  the 
ingenious  counsel,  as  to  prevent  the  utterance  of  personalities, 
that  it  would  not  be  prudent  perhaps  to  repeat  out  of  court. 

While  the  defendant  was  addressing  the  court,  the  counsel 
calmly  advanced,  and  taking  a  pinch  of  snuff,  modestly  ob- 
served, that  what  he  was  doing  was  in  court,  and  what  was  to 
be  done  out  of  court  was  not  to  be  talked  of  here.  Then 


PREFACE. 


pointing  to  the  defendant,  and  casting  a  significant  look  upon 
him,  he  proceeded.] 

This  unrighteous  man  has,  hy  this  very  movement  of  his 
choler,  justified  all  that  I  can  ever  say.  If  he  complains  of 
personalities  —  he  who  is  hardened  in  every  gross  abuse  — 
he  who  lives  reviling  and  reviled ;  who  might  construct  him- 
self a  monument,  with  no  other  materials  hut  those  records 
to  which  he  is  a  party,  and  in  which  he  stands  enrolled  as  an 
offender  —  if  he  cannot  sit  still  to  hear  his  accusation,  but 
calls  for  the  protection  of  the  court  against  a  counsel,  whose 
duty  it  is  to  make  his  crimes  appear — how  does  she  deserve 
protection  whom  he  has  driven  to  the  sad  necessity  of  coming 
here  to  vindicate  her  honor  from  those  personalities  which  he 
has  lavished  on  her  ]  Did  not  his  opening  counsel  say  before 
you  that  'he  could  make  the  color  fade  upon  this  lady's 
cheek,  and  wish  that  she  might  be  in  court  to  hear  him  ^  re- 
gret that  her  own  son  was  not  here  to  testify  against  her  V 
Was  not  this  monstrous  personality!  And  when  it  is  consid- 
ered that  before  this  very  cause  drew  near  its  close,  the  other 
counsel  of  this  same  defendant  rose  and  told  you,  that  *  they 
admitted  her  character  was  spotless,  and  for  that  reason  that 
no  reproach  was  cast  upon  it,  desire  you  to  acquit  their  inno- 
cent client,  who  is  a  mere  historian,  who  never  could  have 
malice,  who  was  more  ready  to  rectify  his  errors,  than  others 
to  observe  him.' 

But  it  is  well,  and  I  am  glad  that  I  was  interrupted  ;  for  the 
very  evil  genius  that  waits  upon  his  life  has  here,  for  once, 
worked  to  an  honest  end.  For  while  my  voice  was  almost 
choked  with  crowding  truths,  struggling  for  utterance,  and 
while  the  swell  of  honest  indignation  rose  even  to  suffoca- 
tion, he  came  forward  and  pointed  my  attention  to  that  sub- 
ject which  first  deserved  rebuke. 

I  had  said,  that  in  the  catalogue  of  crimes  none  could  be 
found  more  base  than  his.  Not  treason,  for  the  reasons  I 
have  given.  Not  murder  ;  for  he  who  murders  life,  murders 
all  sorrow  with  it ;  but  he  has  doomed  this  lady  to  days  of 
sorrow,  and  to  lingering  death.  The  pirate  meets  his  foe,  or 
seeks  his  prey,  where  death  and  danger  stare  him  in  the  face ; 
and  when  he  falls  before  the  sword  of  justice,  some  sympathy 
may  mingle  with  his  shame,  and  men  regret  that  one  so  brave 
in  manly  enterprise  should  fall  so  ignominiously.  But  here  is 
an  attack  upon  a  woman  far  from  her  husband's  side,  from 
friends  and  home,  whose  infant  sons  are  yet  too  tender  to 
avenge  their  mother's  wrongs.  The  forger  who  counterfeits 
some  instrument  to  cheat  you  of  your  money,  for  that  crime 
spins  out.  his  wretched  days  in  hard  captivity,  in  infamy  and 
labor :  will  you  compare  his  crime  with  that  of  one  who,  by 
his  fabricated  histories,  pilfers  from  helpless  woman  the  only 


PREFACE.  9 

precious  jewel  which  she  prizes — her  more  than  life,  her  all 
—her  spotless  honor  1  That  which  the  robber  or  the  thief 
purloins  may  be  retrieved,  or  may  be  spared  ;  but  not  the  worth 
of  twenty  thousand  beings  such  as  the  libeller,  were  he  worth 
twenty  thousand  times  as  much  as  ever  he  will  be,  reform 
how  he  may,  would  pay  the  twenty  thousandth  part  of  theft 
which  he  has  taken. 

It  is  argued  that  everything  should  be  intended  in  favor  of 
this  defendant,  who  has  written  so  godly  a  work  against  the 
prince  of  deists,  and  for  the  holy  gospel.  I  am  sorry  to  hear 
such  arguments  advanced  ;  they  go  almost  to  burlesque  reli- 
gion itself.  He  a  man  of  God !  He  write  for  the  love  of 
God !  His  book  a  godly  book  !  a  vile,  obscene,  and  filthy 
compilation,  which  bears  throughout  the  character  of  rancor- 
ous malice,  and  tramples  upon  every  Christian  charity.  Libel 
an  innocent  woman,  lie  and  calumniate,  for  the  sake  of 
Christianity !  If  this  be  the  only  godly  deed  this  man  has 
done,  I  pray  to  Heaven  to  be  more  merciful  to  him  than  he 
has  been  to  Mrs.  Bonneville,  and  that  for  this  very  work  of 
godliness  he  be  not  damned. 

If  you  be  Christian  jurors  punish  him ;  for  be  assured  of 
this,  that  twenty  Paines,  were  twenty  such  just  now  upon  this 
earth,  could  not  conjointly  do  more  harm  to  Christianity  by 
their  most  violent  efforts,  than  this  man  by  defending  it  would 
do.  If  any  one  of  wavering  faith  should  hear  that  the  best 
vindication  of  God's  word  was  this  most  libellous  and  scan- 
dalous work,  he  never  would  be  a  Christian  from  that  hour. 
Not  every  one  that  saith,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  but  least  of  all  he  that  makes  the  blessed  name  of 
God  a  cloak  for  malice  and  iniquity.  He  may  be  like  those 
priests  of  whom  we  read  in  history,  who,  with  the  holy  cross 
in  the  one  hand  and  the  bloody  sabre  in  the  other,  commit 
atrocities  at  which  nature  shudders. 

Where  did  he  learn,  that  the  God  of  mercy  took  delight  in 
human  sacrifices,  and  that,  to  do  him  honor,  a  woman's  heart 
should  palpitate  upon  a  bloody  altar  1  Has  he  ever  read  the 
word  of  God  1  or,  this  heavenly  historian,  does  he  know  one 
letter  of  the  gospel  history  1  If  he  does,  he  is  as  blunt  and 
dull  in  understanding,  as  he  is  dead  to  sensibility  and  delica- 
cy. When  a  woman  was  brought  before  the  author  of  the 
Christian  religion,  taken  in  the  very  fact  of  adultery,  what 
did  he  say  1  He  left  behind  him  a  specimen  of  tenderness 
ever  memorable  and  divine.  ( Let  him,'  he  said  to  the  fanat- 
ical and  malignant  rabble,  <  let  him  who  is  innocent  cast  the 
first  stone.' 

And  if  this  Christian  historian  had  ever  known  or  felt  the 
benignant  spirit  of  holy  inspiration,  would  he  not  be  sensible 
that  he  was  not  innocent  1  If  he  be  innocent,  then  are  tigers 
gentle. 

2 


10  PREFACE. 

There  was  a  monastery  where  deadly  crimes  were  expiated 
called  La  Tra'ppe :  when  sinners  entered  it  they  made  a  ter- 
rible vow  of  everlasting  silence,  and  from  that  awful  moment 
never  uttered  a  word,  and  daily  with  their  nails  dug  their  own 
graves.  When  the  midnight  bell  tolled  them  to  prayer,  they 
feft  their  solitary  cells,  and  moved  with  noiseless  step  through 
gloomy  cloisters  and  whispering  aisles,  with  downcast  look, 
turning  their  rosaries,  but  never  spoke.  Such  is  the  peni- 
tence, such  the  everlasting  silence  that  would  become  the 
ruthless  slanderer  of  woman's  honor.  But  he  who  acts  the 
bully  and  the  bravo,  and  calls  himself  the  champion  of  high 
Heaven,  what  words  can  paint  the  horror  he  inspires  !  Then 
let  us  leave  him. 

My  duty  calls  me  now  to  recapitulate  the  testimony  of  all 
his  witnesses.  The  first  and  principal  is  Mr.  Carver.  He, 
with  uplifted  hand,  affirmed,  by  the  ever-living  God,  the  truth 
of  what  he  testified  —  and  what  was  that  1  His  letter  tells 
us  all :  that  he  and  Paine  had  a  dispute  for  money ;  and  in 
their  correspondence  you  may  find  the  crimes  and  baseness 
they  reciprocally  urged  against  each  other.  Mr.  Carver, 
whose  vulgar  scurrilous  letter  makes  the  chief  buttress  of 
this  man's  defence,  the  more  to  spite  his  adversaries,  flings 
out  some  calumny  against  the  lady.  Carver  himself  admits, 
that  when  she  got  a  si^ht  of  it  she  threatened  to  prosecute 
him  for  that  very  letter.  Yet  on  no  better  ground  has  this 
audacious  libeller  defamed  her  reputation. 

From  the  same  source  springs  the  infernal  hint  that  little 
Thomas  Bonneville  had  the  countenance  and  features  of 
Thomas  Paine.  In  his  little  nose  no  doubt  the  historian  could 
discern,  by  learned  inspection,  the  germes  of  future  blossoms, 
and  gems  that  in  due  course  of  nature  should  come  to  this 
world's  light. 

Carver  gives  evidence  of  what  he  heard  from  Paine  of  Mrs. 
Bonneville,  which  he  himself  retailed  to  Cheetham ;  and 
Cheetham,  rather  than  such  sublime  history  should  not  shine 
forth  to  save  poor  sinners'  souls,  becomes  his  historian  for  the 
love  of  God,  and  gives  them  to  the  world  as  history.  This  is 
the  history  of  this  historian  and  his  history ! 

I  pushed  him  (Carver)  farther,  and  he  stated  that  he  and  his 
wife  had  often  gone  to  Mr.  Purdy's  on  the  farm  to  visit  Mrs. 
Bonneville.  Then  it  was,  that  seeing  the  toils  in  which  his 
honesty  and  decency  had  fallen,  he  tapered  off  by  saying  he 
never  had  seen  the  slightest  indication  of  any  meretricious 
or  illicit  commerce  between  Paine  and  Mrs.  Bonneville  ;  that 
they  never  were  alone  together,  and  that  all  the  three  chil- 
dren, the  little  godson  Thomas  and  all,  were  alike  the  objects 
of  Paine's  care. 

Here  ends  the  black  conspiracy  and  conjuration  for  the 
love  of  God.  And  now  the  sickened  soul  revives,  and  a 


PREFACE.  11 

bright  scene  appears :  A  group  of  matrons  led  by  those  hands 
which  holy  wedlock  had  joined  to  theirs  for  ever  —  heads  of 
families,  beloved,  distinguished,  full  of  respect  and  honor ; 
in  form  so  bright,  in  innocence  so  lovely ;  so  pure  in  unsus- 
pected truth,  so  proud  in  conscious  worth  and  dignity  ;  who 
never  till  that  hour  had  crossed  the  threshold  of  a  court  of 
justice,  or  been  where  discord  reigns;  whose  lips  had  never 
uttered  other  oaths  than  those  which  bound  them  by  the  wil- 
ling ties  of  constancy  and  love  ;  who,  when  the  seraph-voice 
of  piety  called  them  down,  first  glided  from  their  spheres  up- 
on the  wings  of  heaven-born  charity,  and  having  done  their 
mission,  disappeared.  But,  oh !  it  was  a  holy  sacrament  when 
wife  and  husband  twined  their  oaths  together  with  such  so- 
lemnity, such  beaming  truth,  as  when  they  made  before  the 
altar  of  their  God  that  vow  so  full  at  once  of  joy  and  awe  that 
linked  their  future  destiny  together  and  made  them  ever  one. 
They  would  have  told  you  of  this  lady's  sorrows  and  her  res- 
ignation, of  her  spotless  conduct,  of  her  merit ;  how  they  in- 
trusted to  her  care  and  tutelage  the  jewels  of  their  souls,  the 
children  of  their  hearts  ;  with  what  reproachless  truth  ;  what 
anxious  duty  she  answered  to  the  trust ;  had  not  the  rules  of 
evidence  and  technical  formalities  of  law  cut  short  their  story. 
Her  general  character  was  all  they  were  allowed  to  testify. 
Their  words  were  few,  but  like  so  many  messages  of  grace 
or  high  commands  from  heaven. 

The  wives  of  your  own  bosoms  are  not  more  pure  than 
this  injured  lady  is  proved,  nay,  more,  admitted  now  to  be. 
If  they  were  stigmatized  by  an  historian,  what  would  you  say 
of  him,  that  he  was  innocent  or  guilty  1 

You  have  heard  the  witnesses  for  Mrs.  Bonneville,  and  you 
may  judge  if  this  historian  had  inquired  of  them,  instead  of 
grubbing  filth  from  every  dunghill,  how  bright  a  name  she 
would  have  deserved,  who  has  been,  nevertheless,  doomed  by 
this  terrible  man  to  misery. 

If  he  had  begged  access  to  any  of  those  high  distinguished 
persons  under  whose  roof  she  lived,  whose  children  she  had 
taught  j  of  Mr.  Emmett,  who  oppresses  no  one,  but  protects 
the  innocent ;  or  of  Mr.  Fulton,  who  knew  her  and  her  hus- 
band in  their  own  country  ;  if  he  had  asked  of  Mr.  Jarvis  — 
that  man  of  keen  sagacity,  of  observation,  with  knowledge  of 
mankind  and  of  all  the  parties ;  if  he  had  been  satisfied  with 
Mr.  Hitt's  word,  rather  than  that  of  '  pious  nurses  and  kind 
attending  doctors,7  and  reverend  teachers,  who  had  disputes 
and  lawsuits;  he  would  have  known  what  all  but  his 
mutinous  genius  now  concedes.  I  have  no  cause  of  private 
malice  against  him,  but  quite  the  contrary.  When  he  had 
any  spark  of  character,  he  praised  me  more  than  ever  I  could 
merit,  and  I  could  not  but  thank  him.  When  he  had  nothing 
good  to  give  but  his  abuse,  without  offence  or  change  in  me, 


12  PREFACE. 

he  gave  me  that  with  equal  liberality,  and  I  thanked  him.  If  I 
could  ask  a  favor  of  him  now,  it  would  be  to  abuse  me  more 
and  more,  and  never  let  his  malice  go  to  the  length  of  prais- 
ing me  :  for  although  my  friends  who  know  me  well  might 
not  despise  me,  yet  in  this  community  where  I  am  little 
known,  and  still  almost  a  stranger,  I  may  not  have  formed  suf- 
ficient character  to  stand  against  his  praise,  nor  be  entitled 
to  so  much  indulgence  that  it  should  be  believed  that  I  could 
have  his  praise,  and  yet  be  honest." 

This  same  Cheetham,  the  libeller  of  Madame  Bonneville, 
and  through  her  of  Paine's  memory,  is  the  author  of  other 
calumnies  on  Paine.  It  is  by  him  that  the  public  have  been 
informed  that  Paine  was  drunken  and  dirty  in  his  person  ;  and 
so  industriously  and  faithfully  have  the  clergy  preached  and 
circulated  these  calumnies,  that  we  shall  scarcely  be  believed 
in  contradicting  them  on  the  very  best  evidences,  his  com- 
panions now  alive,  and  in  some  cases  the  very  men  whom 
Cheetham  impudently  names  as  sources  of  his  information. 
Thus,  Mr.  Jarvis,  the  celebrated  painter,  with  whom  Mr. 
Paine  lived,  informs  us  distinctly  that  Mr.  Paine  was  neither 
dirty  in  his  habits  nor  drunken  :  nay,  he  good-humoredly  ad- 
ded that  he  always  drank  a  great  deal  more  than  ever  Paine 
did.  Mr.  John  Fellows  lived  in  the  same  house  with  Mr. 
Paine,  above  a  twelvemonth,  and  was  his  intimate  friend  for 
many  years  after  his  return  to  this  country,  and  never  saw 
him  but  once  even  elevated  with  liquor,  and  then  he  had  been 
to  a  dinner-party.  We  know  more  than  twenty  persons  who 
were  more  or  less  acquainted  with  Mr.  Paine,  and  not  one  of 
whom  ever  saw  him  in  liquor.  His  habit  appears  to  have 
been  to  take  one  glass  of  rum  and  water  with  sugar  in  it,  af- 
ter dinner,  and  another  after  supper.  His  limit  at  one  period, 
when  at  Rochelle,  was  one  quart  of  rum  a  week,  for  himself 
and  friends,  for  Mr.  Paine  was  rather  penurious  in  his  old  age. 
This,  and  this  alone,  is  the  only  moral  fault  we  find  in  his 
character,  and  we  wish  to  be  his  impartial  historian.  His 
manner  of  life  at  this  time  we  get  from  Mr.  Burger,  a  respect- 
able watchmaker  in  New  York,  but  then  a  clerk  in  the  only 
store  at  Rochelle,  who  served  Mr.  Paine  with  his  liquor,  and 
waited  upon  him  when  sick,  and  drove  him  about  the  neigh- 
borhood at  the  request  of  his  employer,  and  thus  saw  much 
of  his  social  habits.  This  gentleman  never  saw  Mr.  Paine 


PREFACE;  13 

intoxicated.  Garver>  with  whom  Paine  lived,  but  from  whom 
he  parted  in  anger,  is  the  only  man  we  know  who  has  not 
spoken  distinctly  on  that  subject;  and  he  remarks,  that 
"  Paine  was  like  other  men  [at  that  period],  he  would  some- 
times take  too  much."  But  Carver  had  unfortunately  commit- 
ted himself  on  this  subject  in  an  angry  letter,  the  same  on 
which  Cheetham  based  his  libel.  In  fact,  this  letter  is  the 
groundwork  for  all  Cheetham's  calumnies.  Mr.  Grant  Thor- 
burn,  a  few  years  back,  republished  this  letter  in  his  "  Forty 
Years'  Residence,"  on  which  occasion  Carver  vindicates  him- 
self in  one  of  his  last  publications,  where  he  thus  speaks  of 
that  letter :  — 

EXTRACT  FROM  "  A  BONE  TO  GNAW  FOR  GRANT  THORBURN,"  BY  W* 

CARVER. 

"  When  I  first  read  the  life  of  Grant  Thorburn,  I  made  this 
remark,  and  wrote  it  on  the  cover  of  his  book :  '  I  have  read 
this  life  of  Grant  Thorburn.  I  presume  a  great  part  of  which 
it  is  composed  has  no  more  connexion  with  his  life  than  mine, 
or  the  pope  of  Rome's,  to  wit:  the  corresponding  letters  be- 
tween Thomas  Paine  and  myself,  and  those  letters  I  have  cut 
out  of  his  book.'  These  letters  were  first  printed  by  Cheet- 
ham  without  my  consent  for  base  purposes,  after  he  became  a 
tory  and  a  hypocritical  turncoat,  like  Grant  Thorburn,  who 
has  now  reprinted  them  for  the  same  purpose.  They  were 
written  by  Paine  and  me  in  anger.  Mr.  Paine  had  boarded 
with  me  without  any  regular  agreement,  and  we  quarrelled 
about  the  bill,  what  has  happened  a  thousand  times  to  other 
people  ;  he  wrote  angrily  and  I  angrily  replied.  But  the  affair 
was  amicably  settled  by  Walter  Morton  and  John  Fellows ;  the 
latter  is  still  living.  I  think  some  things  Paine  said  of  me 
were  not  in  earnest,  and  I  answered  in  anger :  the  letters 
should  have  been  burnt.  But  Cheetham  said  many  things  of 
Paine  that  were  not  true,  after  he  turned  tory.  I  told  him  '  I 
believed  that  he  had  had  his  hand  crossed  with  British  gold.' 
Mr.  Charles  Christian  was  present ;  he  said  to  Cheetham : 
'  That  is  a  bold  attack  of  Carver  in  your  own  house.'  He 
replied  and  said :  '  I  know  Carver  ;  he  will  contradict  a  judge 
on  the  bench  if  he  thinks  him  not  right ;'  but  he  did  not  deny 
the  charge.  When  Paine  was  on  his  deathbed,  I  wrote  him 
the  following  letter.  This  shows  what  opinion  I  had  of  him ; 
I  think  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  men  that  ever  lived. 

1  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  heard  that  you  are  much  indisposed  in 
health,  and  that  your  mind,  at  present,  is  not  reconciled  to 
me.  Be  that  as  it  may,  I  can  assure  you  that,  on  my  part,  I 


14-  PREFACE. 

bear  no  ill-will,  but  still  remain  your  sincere  well-wisher ;  and 
am  still  a  zealous  supporter  and  defender  of  the  principles 
that  you  have  advocated,  believing  they  are  founded  on  im- 
mortal truth  and  justice  ;  therefore  I  think  it  a  pity  that  you 
or  myself  should  depart  this  life  with  envy  in  our  hearts 
against  each  other  —  and  I  firmly  believe  that  no  difference 
would  have  taken  place  between  us,  had  not  some  of  those  of 
your  pretended  friends  endeavored  to  have  caused  a  separa- 
tion of  friendship  between  us. 

I,  sir,  want  nothing  of  you  or  from  you,  but  only  that  the 
ignorant  and  superstitious  herd  may  not  have  it  in  their  pow- 
er to  exclaim  and  say  that  Thomas  Paine  or  Carver  died 
without  a  reconciliation  to  each  other.  I  have  often  told  my 
friends,  if  I  were  on  my  dying  bed,  I  should  send  for  you,  ho- 
ping that  all  our  differences  might  be  buried  in  oblivion  before 
our  bodies  were  buried  in  the  grave,  as  I  hope  that  my  dying 
pillow  may  not  be  planted  with  thorns;  I  consider  that  time 
with  me  is  short,  and  perhaps  shorter  with  you.  If  I  never 
should  see  you  again  in  this  world,  I  wish  you  all  the  conso- 
lation that  your  great  mind  is  capable  of  enjoying,  and  that 
you  may  resign  yourself  with  full  confidence  on  your  Maker, 
and  leave  a  noble  testimony  to  the  world  of  the  independency 
of  your  mind  and  honesty  of  your  heart ;  and  this,  my  friend, 
will  produce  to  you  more  comfort  than  all  the  prayers  of  the 
priests  in  the  Christian  world. 

Yours  in  friendship, 

WM.  CARVER.'" 

Mr.  Grant  Thorburn,  mentioned  above,  scarcely  knew  Mr. 
Paine,  as  Mr.  Carver  observes,  nor  does  his  conduct  command 
respect. 

Such  are  the  men,  who,  admitting  the  truth  of  Mr.  Paine's 
writings,  seek  to  destroy  their  effects  by  the  most,  puerile 
attack  on  his  private  character.  Cheetham,  Thorburn,  and 
others,  have  repeated  slanders  suggested  in  an  angry  letter  ,• 
the  enemies  of  Paine,  corrupt  statesmen,  and  the  clergy  in 
particular,  have  so  industriously  circulated  these  slanders,  as 
even  to  deceive  the  very  friends  of  Mr.  Paine.  In  commen- 
cing our  inquiries  we  really  thought  the  fact  that  Mr.  Paine 
was  a  drunkard  in  old  age  was  well  established.  In  seeking, 
however,  for  the  proofs  of  this,  we  arrive  at  a  very  different 
conclusion.  In  the  course  of  this  work  we  shall  show  the 
sources  from  which  we  have  derived  our  information. 

G.  V. 


LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 


PART    I. 

MOST  men  pursue  personal  happiness  and  their  own  great- 
ness as  worthy  objects ;  but  Mr.  Paine  labored  for  the  great- 
ness of  the  nation  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  sought  its 
happiness  ;  and  in  the  pursuit  of  which  he  built  up  his  own 
greatness  and  promoted  his  own  happiness.  Nothing  will  be 
clearer  established  by  this  record  of  his  life  than  the  fact  now 
alluded  to  ;  and  this  fact  marks  him  as  peculiarly  distinguish- 
ed even  among  great  and  good  men.  We  are  not,  how- 
ever, about  to  write  a  eulogy;  to  enhance  his  virtues,  or  to 
suppress  his  faults,  or  vices.  Paine  was  a  part  of  human 
nature,  and  partook  of  its  imperfections ;  and  our  purpose  is  \/ 
fairly  to  represent  him  as  he  was ;  but  the  greater  part  of 
Mr.  Paine's  life  was  public,  and  as  suoh  we  know  of  no 
man  who  had  greater  virtues  or  less  vices.  His  natural  life  is 
distinctly  marked  into  four  periods :  his  history  in  England 
before  he  embarked  for  North  America ;  Ins  residence  and 
exertions  in  this  country  during  the  revolutionary  war ;  his 
return  to  Europe,  and  his  exertions  in  France  and  England 
during  the  great  French  revolution  and  revolutionary  war ; 
and  his  final  return  and  residence  in  the  United  States  till  his 
death.  The  first  part  will  necessarily  be  the  least  interesting  j 
his  merits  were  only  known  to  a  few ;  but  fortunately  among 
those  few  was  Dr.  Franklin  (by  whose  advice  he  visited  this 
country).  We  have  already  noticed  Sherwin's  life  of  Paine, 
and  as  we  find  Paine's  early  life  fairly  delineated  there,  with 
some  exceptions,  we  shall  at  once  transcribe  so  much  of  that 


16  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

work  as  suits  our  purpose  j  correcting  it  where  we  find  it 
necessary,  and  making  such  additions  as  we  think  proper  from 
the  abundant  facts  we  have  accumulated. 

THE  EARLY  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

"  THOMAS  PAINE,  the  subject  of  these  memoirs,  was  born  at 
Thetford,  in  the  county  of  Norfolk,  England,  on  the  29th  of 
January,  1737.  His  parents  were  obscure  as  to  birth,  having 
nothing  to  depend  upon,  except  what  was  derived  from  their 
own  industry.  His  father,  Joseph  Paine,  was  a  member  of  the 
society  of  quakers,  a  person  of  sober  habits  and  good  moral 
character :  he  obtained  a  decent,  but  humble  livelihood  by 
following  his  trade,  which  was  that  of  a  staymaker.  The 
maiden  name  of  his  mother  was  Frances  Cocke,  the  daughter 
of  an  attorney  at  Thetford,  and  a  member  of  the  established 
church.  It  was  probably  owing  to  the  disagreement  in  the 
religious  tenets  of  his  parents  that  Paine  was  never  baptized. 
He  was,  however,  privately  named,  and  through  the  pious 
care  of  his  aunt,  he  was  afterward  confirmed  by  the  bishop 
of  Norwich. 

At  an  early  age,  Paine  was  sent  to  the  grammar-school  at 
Thetford,  where  he  was  taught  reading,  writing,  and  accounts. 
Before  he  left  this  school,  he  likewise  obtained  a  slight  knowl- 
edge of  the  Latin  tongue ;  but  from  the  aversion  or  contempt 
which  he  subsequently  acquired  for  the  study  of  the  dead 
languages,  or  from  want  of  opportunity,  it  does  not  appear 
that  they  ever  became  the  objects  of  settled  attention. 

It  does  not  seem,  or  at  least  it  is  not  known,  that,  during 
his  boyhood,  he  exhibited  any  peculiar  signs  of  that  genius 
which  was  afterward  to  exalt  him  to  the  very  pinnacle  of 
political  fame.  But  from  a  passage  in  the  'Age  of  Reason,'  it 
is  evident,  that  however  matured  in  judgment  he  might  be 
before  he  became  a  politician,  his  first  impressions  on  the  sub- 

,     j   ject  of  religion  were  made  at  a  very  early  period  of  his  life. 

-\  v  Paine  himself  says :  *  From  the  time  I  was  capable  of 
conceiving  an  idea,  and  acting  upon  it  by  reflection,  I  either 
doubted  the  truth  of  the  Christian  system,  or  thought  it  to  be 
a  strange  affair ;  I  scarcely  knew  which  it  was :  but  I  well 
remember,  when  about  seven  or  eight  years  of  age,  hearing  a 
sermon  read  by  a  relation  of  mine,  who  was  a  great  devotee 
of  the  church,  upon  the  subject  of  what  is  called  redemption 
by  the  Son  of  God.  After  the  sermon  was  ended,  I  went  into 
the  garden,  and  as  I  was  going  down  the  garden  steps  (for  I 
perfectly  recollect  the  spot)  I  revolted  at  the  recollection  of 
what  I  had  heard,  and  thought  to  myself  that  it  was  making 
God  Almighty  act  like  a  passionate  man  that  killed  his  son, 
when  he  could  not  revenge  himself  any  other  way ;  and  as  I 
was  sure  a  man  would  be  hanged  that  did  such  a  thing,  I  could 


A  STAYMAKER — (JOES  TO  SEA.  17 

not  see  for  what  purpose  they  preached  such  sermons.  This 
was  not  one  of  those  kind  of  thoughts  that  had  anything  in  it 
of  childish  levity ;  it  was  to  me  a  serious  reflection,  arising 
from  the  idea  I  had,  that  God  was  too  good  to  do  such  an 
action,  and  also  too  almighty  to  be  under  any. necessity  of 
doing  it.  I  believe  in  the  same  manner  to  this  moment ;  and 
I  moreover  believe,  that  any  system  of  religion  that  has  any 
thing  in  it  that  shocks  the  mind  of  a  child,  cannot  be  a  true 
system.' — l*flge  of  Reason?  Part  I.,  p.  37. 

At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  was  taken  from  school  by  his 
father,  who,  unable  from  his  circumstances  to  apprentice  him 
to  any  other  trade,  employed  him  as  an  assistant  in  the  business 
of  staymaking.  Whether  he  was  ever  bound  apprentice  does 
not  appear,  nor  is  it  a  matter  of  much  consequence.  The 
sedentary  shopboard  had  few  attractions  for  our  author,  and 
he  left  it  the  first  opportunity.  After  remaining  with  his 
father  about  three  years,  he  left  his  native  town  and  proceeded 
to  London,  where  he  doubtless  hoped  to  better  his  circum- 
stances ;  conceiving,  as  many  had  done  before  him,  that  the 
metropolis  was  the  only  place  where  a  youth  can  attain  a 
proper  knowledge  of  the  world,  and  the  only  scene  where 
natural  talent  can  find  an  opportunity  of  displaying  itself  to 
the  best  advantage.  His  mind,  which  nature  appears  to  have 
formed  for  enterprise,  was  of  too  aspiring  a  turn  to  be  restrict- 
ed to  the  limits  of  a  provincial  town,  or  to  brook  the  idea  of 
being  confined  for  life  to  a  business  which  would  not  only 
have  cramped  his  genius,  but  which  at  best  would  have 
afforded  him  but  a  scanty  livelihood.  His  prospects  in  Lon- 
don, however,  do  not  seem  to  have  been  at  first  much  more 
inviting  than  those  he  had  left  in  the  country.  On  his  arrival, 
he  found  himself  without  either  friends  or  money,  anddesjti- 
tute  of  the  means  of  procuring  any,  except  by  again  liaving 
recourse  to  the  business  he  had  just  deserted.  He  applied  to 
a  Mr.  Morris,  a  staymaker,  in  Hanover  Street,  Long  Acre,  of 
whom  he  procured  employment  for  some  weeks.  From  Lon- 
don he  went  to  Dover,  where  he  worked  at  his  business  for  a 
short  time,  with  a  Mr.  Grace. 

How  long  a  time  elapsed  from  the  period  of  his  leaving 
his  father  to  his  quitting  Mr.  Grace  does  not  appear,  nor,  if 
known,  would  it  be  a  matter  of  much  interest.  Probably,  not 
more  than  two  or  three  months.  Finding  himself  baffled  in 
the  expectations  he  had  formed  on  quitting  his  home,  he  left 
his  second  employer,  and  went  on  board  the  Terrible  priva- 
teer, Captain  Death.  To  a  mind  like  his,  which  appears  at 
the  time  we  are  speaking  of,  to  have  been  ardent  in  the  ex- 
treme, it  is  not  surprising  that  the  war  which  had  just  then 
been  declared  against  France,  afforded  an  abundant  field  of 
enterprising  anticipation.  Situated  as  he  was,  and  feeling  as 
he  probably  did,  the  army  or  the  navy  was  his  only  choice, 

3 


18  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

and  he  took  the  latter  because  it  was  nearest  at  hand.  How 
long  he  remained  on  board  the  Terrible,  has  not  been  ascer- 
tained ;  but  from  his  own  account  of  the  affair,  the  time  must 
have  been  short.  'From  this  adventure,'  says  he,  'I  was 
happily  prevented  by  the  affectionate  and  moral  remonstrance 
of  a  good  father,  who,  from  his  own  habits  of  life,  being  of  the 
quaker  profession,  must  begin  to  look  upon  me  as  lost.' 

Paine  had  been  induced  to  go  to  sea  from  the  impressions 
which  the  master  of  the  school  at  Thetford  had  given  him  ; 
who  having  been  a  chaplain  on  board  a  man-of-war,  retained 
much  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the  sea  service,  and  indirectly 
infused  it  into  the  most  ardent  of  his  scholars.  This  affair 
made  a  considerable  impression  at  the  time  ;  but,  like  most 
of  the  impressions  of  youth,  it  soon  wore  away,  and  left  his 
disposition  for  enterprise  in  much  the  same  state  as  it  was 
before  the  circumstance  occurred.  Shortly  afterward,  he 
entered  on  board  the  King  of  Prussia  privateer,  Captain 
Mendez  ;  but  as  no  account  has  been  published  of  this  trans- 
action, except  that  given  by  himself,  it  does  not  appear  how 
long  he  remained  at  sea,  or  what  occurred  to  induce  him  to 
desert  the  naval  profession  altogether,  and  resume  his  own 
business. 

In  the  year  1759,  he  settled  at  Sandwich  as  a  master-stay- 
maker.  There  he  soon  became  acquainted  with  a  young 
woman  of  the  name  of  Mary  Lambert,  to  whom  he  was  mar- 
ried about  the  end  of  the  same  year.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  an  exciseman,  and  is  said  to  have  possessed  considerable 
personal  attractions. 

His  staymaking  business  not  exactly  answering  his  expect- 
ations, he  removed  with  his  wife  to  Margate,  where  she  died 
in  the  year  1760.  From  Margate  he  went  to  London,  and 
from  London  he  again  removed  to  Thetford. 

Here  he  resolved  upon  relinquishing  his  business  altogether. 
He  had  long  wished  for  some  employment  more  congenial  to 
his  turn  of  mind.  At  length,  through  the  interference  of  Mr. 
Cocksedge,  the  recorder  at  Thetford,  he  obtained  a  situation 
in  the  excise.  This  was  toward  the  end  of  1763- 

For  some  trifling  fault  he  was  dismissed  from  this  situation, 
in  something  more  than  a  year  afterward.  What  the  nature 
of  that  fault  was,  has  never  been  satisfactorily  explained ;  but 
those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  practices  of  the  excise, 
must  be  well  convinced  that  if  the  offence  had  been  of  any 
magnitude,  he  would  never  have  been  restored  to  the  office, 
which  was  the  case  in  about  eleven  months  after  his  dismissal." 

Mr.  Paine,  it  appears,  sent  a  petition  to  the  board  of  excise 
begging  to  be  restored  to  his  situation.  In  the  petition,  Paine 
admits  the  justice  of  his  dismissal,  but  uses  the  expression, 


DISMISSED  FROM  THE  EXCISE.  19 

"  No  complaint  of  the  least  dishonesty  or  intemperance  ever 
appeared  against  me."  For  wh£t  he  was  dismissed  is  not 
stated,  and  what  is  very  remarkable,  his  enemies  in  the  Brit- 
ish government  who  must  have  known  the  cause  of  his  dis- 
missal, never  made  it  public,  although  they  sought  to  destroy 
him  by  every  means.  We  consequently  conclude  that  he 
was  not  criminal,  or  such  an  opportunity  would  not  have 
been  omitted.  Those  who  have  lived  on  the  coast  of  Eng- 
land know  that  the  impartial  exercise  of  an  exciseman's  duty, 
will  expose  him  to  censure  ;  for  they  will  know  that  those 
who  make  and  administer  the  laws  are  themselves  concerned 
in  smuggling.  Clio  Rickman,  the  friend  of  Paine,  exposed  a 
flagitious  case  of  this  kind,  involving  even  the  prime  minister 
of  England,  which,  from  its  peculiarity,  we  shall  insert : — 

"  When  Admiral  Duncan  rendezvoused  in  the  Downs  with 
his  fleet  on  the  eighth  of  January,  1806,  the  Spider  (lugger), 
Daniel  Falara,  master,  was  sent  to  Guernsey  to  smuggle  arti- 
cles for  the  fleet,  such  as  wine,  spirits,  hair-powder,"playing- 
cards,  tobacco,  &c.,  for  the  supply  of  the  different  ships* 

At  her  arrival  in  the  Downs,  the  ships'  boats  flocked  round 
her  to  unload  her  and  her  contraband  cargo.  A  customhouse 
extra  boat,  commanded  by  William  Wallace,  seeing  the  lug- 
ger, followed  and  took  her  ;  in  doing  which  he  did  his  duty. 

On  his  inspecting  the  smuggled  articles  with  which  she 
was  laden,  he  found  a  number  of  cases  directed  to  Admiral 
Duncan,  the  Right  Honorable  William  Pitt,  the  heaven-born 
minister  of  England,  and  to  the  Right  Honorable  Henry  Dun- 
das,  Walmer  Castle.  In  a  few  days,  Wallace,  the  master  of 
the  customhouse  cutter,  received  orders  from  government  to 
give  the  lugger  and  her  smuggled  cargo  up,  on  penalty  of 
being  dismissed  the  service,  and  these  cases  of  smuggled 
goods  were  afterward  delivered  at  the  prime  minister's,  Mr. 
Pitt's,  at  Walmer  Castle." 

At  this  very  time,  says  Clio  Rickman,  there  were  fourteen 
poor  persons  in  one  jail  in  England  for  smuggling.  From  the 
surprising  silence  of  Paine's  enemies  on  the  subject  of  his 
dismissal,  we  strongly  suspect  it  was  connected  with  some- 
thing they  did  not  want  exposed. 

"  After  his  dismission  he  proceeded  to  London,  where  he 
became  a  teacher  in  an  academy  kept  by  Mr.  Noble  of  Good- 
man's Fields.  In  this  situation  he  remained  until  the  period 
of  his  restoration  to  office.  It  is  probable  that  it  was  during 


20  LIFE    OF  THOMAS  PAJNE. 

his  stay  in  London  at  this  period,  he  applied  himself  to  the 
study  of  astronomy  and  natural  philosophy,  and  that  this  is 
the  time  he  alludes  to,  when  he  says,  '  As  soon  as  I  was  able  I 
purchased  a  pair  of  globes,  and  attended  the  philosophical 
lectures  of  Martin  and  Ferguson,  and  became  afterward  ac- 
quainted with  Dr.  Bevis  of  the  Society  called  the  Royal 
Society,  and  an  excellent  astronomer.'  Indeed,  as  he  himself 
expresses  it,  the  natural  bp.nt.  oLbis  mind.apj3ears  to  have  been 
to_sc]ence^  and  tfiough  from  his  disadvantageous  situatiori^in 
life  he  necessarily  met  with  many  obstacles,  it  is  evident  from 
several  of  his  productions,  that  he  attained  a  great  proficiency 
in  mechanics,  mathematics,  and  astronomy.  It  was  from  his 
being  well  grounded  in  the  principles  of  science,  during  the 
earlier  part  of  his  life,  that  he  afterward  became  such  a  pow- 
erful adept  in  reasoning  ;  it  was  from  the  mathematical  prin- 
ciples which  had  been  engrafted  on  his  mind  while  it  was  yet 
tender  enough  to  receive  the  impressions  of  instruction,  that 
he  was  subsequently  enabled  to  write  with  such  precision 
upon  almost  any  subject,  that  he  was  enabled  to  reduce  ab- 
struseness  to  simplicity,  to  understand  difficult  subjects  him- 
self, and  to  render  them  intelligible  to  others." 

The  enemies  of  Mr.  Paine  have  represented  him  as  an  ignor- 
ant,  vulgar  man,  and  his  style  coarse  and  rude,  but  imbued 
with  strong  good  sense.  His  worst  enemies  allow  him  the 
latter  qualities,  except  Cheetham  ;  who,  heated  by  party  poli- 
tics, and  corrupted  by  expectancies  from  Britain,  has  outraged 
common  sense  by  denying  Paine  any  good  qualities,  while  his 
own  work  abounds  with  proofs  to  the  contrary.  Paine's  style 
•j  was  clear,  forcible,  and  elegant :  in  our  opinion,  he  is  the  best 
English  writer  we  know.  We  never  misunderstand  him ;  and 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  put  the  same  thoughts  in  fewer  or 
better  chosen  words  than  he  has  done.  Those  who  have 
attacked  his  style,  are  themselves  ignorant  or  vicious,  with 
no  literary  character  to  lose.  When  the  clergy  have  urged 
on  their  hearers  the  vulgarity  of  the  style  of  Mr.  Paine,  it  has 
always  appeared  to  us  that  they  have  presumed  on  the  ignor- 
ance of  their  hearers,  or  have  themselves  been  the  dupes  of 
what  they  wished  to  believe  :  for  Paine  was  decidedly  a  learn- 
ed man,  but  self-taught,  as  indeed  most  learned  men  are  ;  for 
the  meager  instruction  of  a  school  only  gives  the  rudiments — 
the  base — that  on  which  the  fabric  must  be  raised.  Paine's 
knowledge  of  the  classics  was  indeed  very  limited  ;  perhaps 
the  mere  elements  obtained  when  a  boy  at  the  grammar- 


RESTORED  TO  THE  EXCISE.  21 

school  •)  but  even  this  gave  him  one  important  advantage :  the 
little  he  did  know  enabled  him  rightly  to  estimate  the  value 
of  Greek  and  Latin,  which  are  of  great  intrinsic  worth  only 
in  some  cases,  and  of  none  to  Mr.  Paine  in  any  of  his  pursuits 
or  works ;  and  when  he  stated  that  a  Greek  milkman  knew 
more  of  Greek  than  the  best  Greek  scholar  in  England,  he 
lifted  the  veil  which  covered  ignorance  ;  although  a  scholar 
might  know  much  of  the  grammar  or  philosophical  construc- 
tion of  the  language,  which  a  Greek  milkman  might  not.  In 
his  biblical  criticisms,  he  showed  that  the  authorized  English 
Bible  was  not  the  Word  of  God  $  and  thus  he  cut  off  all  refer- 
ence to  ancient  languages.  His  acquaintance  with  mathemat- 
ics  and  natural  philosophy  was  evidently  extensive.  His  ref- 
erences to  these  subjects  are  frequent,  and  always  pertinent ; 
while  there  is  no  egotistical  display  of  knowledge  or  learn- 
ing ;  yet  every  learned  man  knows  well  the  certainty  of  de- 
tecting ignorance  in  a  man  who,  by  references,  assumes  a 
knowledge  of  science  which  he  does  not  possess.  Paine 
grappled,  too,  with  the  higher  branches  of  the  mathematics, 
for  he  was  acquainted  with  their  application  to  mechanics  and 
to  bridges ;  and  this  latter  is 'one  of  the  most  difficult  subjects 
to  which  they  are  applied.  It  was  not  then  a  compliment  that 
Paine  was  admitted  a  member  of  various  learned  societies  in 
this  country,  France,  and  England.  He  had  substantial  claims 
to  such  a  standing ;  and  those  who  have  attempted  to  degrade 
him  on  this  subject,  have  taken  a  mean  advantage  of  his  un- 
popularity in  the  religious  community,  and  of  the  ignorance 
and  prejudices  of  that  community  against  him.  We  have  now 
in  our  possession  a  part  of  a  letter  in  Paine's  handwriting,  on 
the  difficult  subject  of  fortification,  in  relation  to  New  York, 
and  which  he  treats  in  a  scientific  and  masterly  manner.  The 
subject,  too,  has  his  own  peculiarity,  that  of  utility  and  being 
well-timed  ;  for  then  it  was  a  desideratum  to  fortify  New  York. 
We  return  now  to  the  narrative  of  events,  and  shall  again 
make  use  of  Sherwin's  life,  as  containing  an  elegant  narrative 
of  the  facts  we  wish  to  communicate.  On  Paine's  petition  to 
the  board  of  excise,  was  written :  "  July  4th,  1766  ;  to  be 
restored  on  a  proper  vacancy."  He  was  therefore  restored  j 
and  leaving  his  scholastic  pursuits,  he  returned  again  to  the 
excise  for  several  years* 


22  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

"  On  his  reappointment  to  the  excise,  our  author  immedi- 
ately returned  from  London  to  Thetford,  where  he  continued 
until  the  spring  of  1768,  when  he  was  removed  to  Lewes,  in 
Sussex.  There  he  resided  in  the  house  of  a  person  of  the 
name  of  Ollive,  a  tobacconist.  With  him  he  remained  up- 
ward of  twelve  months,  when  the  former  died,  leaving  a 
widow,  a  daughter,  and  several  sons.  Our  author  then  left 
the  family  for  a  short  time,  but  soon  afterward  returned,  when 
he  opened  the  shop  on  his  own  account.  In  consequence  of 
this,  and  of  his  having  previously  lived  under  the  same  roof, 
he  soon  contracted  an  intimacy  with  Miss  Ollive,  the  daughter 
of  his  former  landlord,  whom  he  married  in  the  year  ]771." 

At  this  time  Paine  appears  to  have  mingled  a  little  politics 
with  his  pursuits  ;  and  he  is  reported  to  have  written  an  elec- 
tioneering ballad,  and  to  have  been  paid  for  it :  but  we  know 
of  none  but  a  jeu  d'esprit,  "  The  Trial  and  Execution  of  the 
Farmer's  Dog"  in  ridicule  of  both  parties,  and  therefore  not 
likely  to  be  paid  for  by  any  one  ;  besides,  Paine  when  better 
known,  never  made  a  profit  of  his  political  works,  or  even 
reserved  a  copyright.  We  therefore  doubt  that  he  was  paid 
for  such  a  service ;  although  pay  for  honorable  services,  is  by 
no  means  unreasonable. 

In  1772  he  wrote  "  The  Case  of  the  Excise  Officers,"  a 
small  pamphlet,  on  a  very  limited  and  unpopular  subject :  yet 
in  this  pamphlet  Mr.  Paine' s  style  and  principles  are  rec- 
ognised. 

"  The  same  conciseness,  clearness,  and  benevolence,  which 
A  form  such  prominent  features  in  the  future  productions  of 
Paine,  are  distinguishable  in  almost  every  page  of  the  pamph- 
let in  question.  Exclusive  of  the  'Introduction,'  it  is  divided 
into  two  parts :  <  The  State  of  the  Salary  of  the  Officers  of 
Excise ;'  and  c  Thoughts  on  the  Corruption  of  Principles, 
and  on  the  Numerous  Evils  arising  to  the  Revenue  from  the 
too  great  Poverty  of  the  Officers  of  Excise.'  In  the  introduc- 
tion is  stated  the  design  of  the  excise  officers,  in  all  parts  of 
the  kingdom,  to  make  an  application  to  parliament  to  have 
the  state  of  their  salaries  taken  into  consideration.  The  sub- 
ject is  then  entered  upon  and  discussed  with  all  the  energy 
and  ability  which  might  have  been  expected  from  a  long-ex- 
perienced advocate.  The  deductions  that  are  made  upon  the 
exciseman's  salary  by  unavoidable  contingencies,  and  the 
danger  to  which  his  duty  necessarily  exposes  him,  are  recap- 
itulated in  the  most  forcible  manner.  Under  the  second  head, 
the  policy  of  our  author's  object  is  insisted  upon :  he  advises 


THE  CASE  OF  THE  EXCISE  OFFICERS.  23 

the  government  to  render  their  officers  honest  by  relieving 
their  necessities;  and  the  pamphlet  concludes  by  enumerating 
the  advantages  that  would  be  ensured  by  adopting  the  recom- 
mendation. 

Of  this  pamphlet  four  thousand  copies  were  printed  by  Mr. 
William  Lee,  of  Lewes  j  but  to  what  extent  they  were  circu- 
lated I  have  not  been  able  to  learn.  It  would  doubtless  be 
read  with  pleasure  and  avidity  by  the  class  of  men  who  were 
interested  in  the  result ;  but  whatever  might  be  the  distresses 
of  the  excisemen,  it  was  not  likely  that  they  would  meet  with 
much  sympathy  or  encouragement  from  the  public.  The 
nature  of  their  occupation,  and  the  unpleasant  mode  in  which 
the  duties  of  it  are  performed,  have  always  rendered  them 
objects  of  public  odium  ;  and  however  misdirected  or  useless 
such  odium  may  be,  it  will  ever  continue  an  appendage  to  the 
character  of  those  who  collect  this  tyrannical  impost.  The 
public,  therefore,  viewed  the  complaints  of  the  excisemen 
with  indifference ;  and  though  considerable  exertions  were 
made  by  various  individuals,  as  well  as  our  author,  there  was 
no  member  ta  be  found  to  bring  the  subject  before  parliament. 
The  distresses  of  the  officers,  and  the  consequent  depredations 
on  the  revenue,  which  our  author  had  so  ably  pointed  out, 
and  so  zealously  endeavored  to  get  removed,  were  not  deemed 
of  sufficient  importance  to  merit  parliamentary  inquiry,  and 
the  proposal,  like  many  other  proposals  for  the  removal  of 
public  evils,  fell  to  the  ground  without  investigation." 

During  Mr.  Paine's  residence  at  Lewes,  he  was  held  as  a 
man  of  talents  in  the  small  circle  of  that  town.  His  company 
was  sought  by  men  of  greater  affluence  than  himself.  He  was 
decidedly  a  good  companion,  whether  engaged  in  amusements 
or  debate.  Paine  at  that  time  was  fond  of  bowls,  then  a  fash- 
ionable game :  even  Dr.  Young,  the  elegant  author  of  the 
Night  Thoughts,  was  a  member  of  a  club,  and  attended  a 
bowling-green.  Paine  in  this  amusement  mingled  with  the 
best  company  in  the  place.  He  met,  too,  an  evening  club  at 
Lewes  in  the  principal  tavern,  for  conversation  and  debate ; 
and  in  that  society,  the  best  the  town  afforded,  he  carried  the 
palm  as  a  debater.  While,  however,  he  was  thus  social,  he 
neither  drank  to  excess,  nor  did  he  indulge  in  the  vulgar  habit 
of  swearing,  a  habit  he  never  contracted  ;  and  which,  even  in 
his  latter  days,  he  reproved  in  some  of  his  intimate  friends. 
This  fact  is  confirmed  to  us  by  Mr.  Jarvis,  the  celebrated 
painter,  with  whom  Mr.  Paine  lived  sometime  before  his 
death.  This  is  worthy  of  note  ;  for  his  enemies,  foiled  by 


2  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

his  arguments,  and  not  being  able  to  attach  to  him  crimes, 
have  assumed  faults  and  magnified  them  into  vices.  We 
have  these  facts  from  those  who  knew  Paine  at  Lewes,  and 
from  those  who  knew  the  company  he  kept,  and  his  habits. 
Carver,  with  whom  Paine  afterward  lived  in  New  York,  was 
then  an  apprentice  in  the  town,  and  used  to  saddle  Mr.  Paine's 
horse,  and  well  remembers  both  him  and  his  reputation.  We 
know,  too,  the  family  of  Kickman,  who  always  resided  in  that 
neighborhood ;  and  on  their  information  and  others  we  can 
rely. 

"  I  have  already  observed,  that  on  the  marriage  of  our 
author  with  Miss  Ollive,  he  commenced  the  business  of  a 
tobacconist  and  grocer,  which  he  carried  on  in  much  the 
same  method  as  his  predecessor  had  done  before  him.  This 
circumstance,  as  might  have  been  anticipated,  soon  rendered 
him  an  object  of  suspicion  in  the  eyes  of  the  commissioners, 
and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  zeal  which  Paine  had  dis- 
played in  exposing  the  pernicious  consequences  of  doling  out 
so  pitiful  a  provision  to  the  active  class  of  excisemen,  while 
their  betters  were  spending  their  days  in  ease  and  affluence, 
had  rendered  him  an  object  of  dislike  among  his  superiors  in 
office.  The  spirit  of  independence  which  he  showed  on  all 
occasions,  and  which  there  is  very  little  doubt  he  communi- 
cated in  a  considerable  degree  to  those  around  him,  was  but 
little  calculated  to  ensure  the  approbation  of  persons  who 
regard  implicit  obedience  as  the  test  of  merit,  who  look  upon 
a  proposal  for  reform  as  a  step  toward  revolution,  and  the 
protection  of  abuses  as  the  only  mode  of  perpetuating  the 
blessings  of  the  English  system  of  government.  Considerable 
pains  were  taken  to  discover  some  flaw  in  the  conduct  of 
Paine  ;  but  so  strictly  had  he  performed  his  duty,  that  nothing 
of  any  consequence  could  be  substantiated  against  him.  His 
keeping  a  tobacconist's  shop  was,  however,  a  sufficient  pre- 
text with  those  who  wished  to  rid  themselves  of  so  trouble- 
some a  servant,  and  he  was  a  second  time  dismissed  from  the 
excise  in  April,  1774." 

At  this  period  Paine  became  unfortunate  in  his  business ; 
perhaps  he  suffered  from  his  social  qualities,  and  a  spirit  of 
\  independence.  His  companions,  we  have  already  remarked, 
were  generally  in  better  circumstances  than  himself;  and 
these  sought  his  company  for  its  intrinsic  worth,  for  he  was 
both  instructive  and  amusing;  and  perhaps  he  incurred  ex- 
penses and  a  loss  of  time,  which  he  was  unable  to  afford ; 


SEPARATES  FROM  HIS  WIFE.  25 

while  a  sanguine  temper  would  still  afford  him  hope>  till  his 
affairs  were  too  bad  to  mend.  His,  goods,  at  this  period,  were 
sold  to  pay  his  debts ;  and  in  the  following  month,  May,  1774, 
he  separated  from  his  wife  by  mutual  consent,  and  articles  were 
signed  on  the  4th  of  June,  by  which  she  retained  the  little  prop- 
erty she  had  brought  him  at  marriage,  and  which  was  just  suffi- 
cient to  maintain  her  in  a  decent  manner  for  the  rest  of  her 
life.  All  the  causes  of  this  separation  are  not  known.  Mr. 
Paine  uniformly  spoke  of  his  wife  with  kindness ;  and  Clio 
Rickman  informs  us,  in  his  life  of  Paine,  that  he  frequent- 
ly sent  'her  money,  without  letting  her  know  the  source 
whence  it  came.  She  was  afterward  a  professor  of  a  sectarian 
religion  in  Cranbrook,  Kent,  and  boarded  in  the  house  of  a 
watchmaker,  a  member  of  the  same  church ;  his  house  was 
consequently  visited  by  religious  people,  many  of  them  with 
strong  prejudices,  and  some  very  ignorant.  These,  after  the 
publication  of  the  "  Age  of  Reason,"  would  sometimes  speak 
disrespectfully  of  Mr.  Paine  in  her  presence,  when  she  uni- 
formly left  the  room  without  a  word.  If,  too,  she  was  ques- 
tioned on  the  subject  of  their  separation,  she  did  the  same. 
We  have  these  facts  from  those  who  resided  with  her.  Our 
most  intimate  friend  at  one  period,  was  a  Mr.  Bourne,  a  watch- 
maker in  Rye,  about  eighteen  miles  from  Cranbrook,  England. 
This  gentleman  was  apprenticed  in  the  house  where  Mrs. 
Paine  lived  :  he  sat  at  the  same  table  with  her  for  years.  We 
have  these  facts  confirmed  by  other  residents  at  Cranbrook. 
Thus  nothing  could  be  learned  from  her,  except  that  though 
she  differed  from  Mr.  Paine  on  religious  subjects,  she  could 
not  bear  to  hear  him  spoken  ill  of.  Paine,  as  we  have  before 
remarked,  spoke  respectfully  of  her  $  but  if  any  person  became 
inquisitive,  he  immediately  answered  rudely,  that  "  his  sep- 
aration was  a  private  affair."  Clio  Rickman  asserts,  and  the 
most  intimate  friends  of  Mr.  Paine  support  him,  that  Paine 
never  cohabited  with  his  second  wife.  Sherwin  treats  the 
subject  as  ridiculous;  but  Clio  Rickman  was  a  man  of  integ- 
rity, and  he  asserts  that  he  has  the  documents  showing  this 
strange  point,  together  with  others,  proving  that  this  arose 
from  no  physical  defects  in  Paine.  When  the  question  was 
plainly  put  to  Mr.  Paine  by  a  friend  of  ours,  he  admitted  this 


26  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

singular  fact ;  but  replied,  "  /  had  a  cause  ;  it  is  no  business 
of  anybody."  Singular,  therefore,  as  this  fact  is,  as  both 
parties  preserved  a  taciturnity  on  the  subject,  we  have  not 
the  means  of  arriving  at  the  truth.  It  was,  as  Paine  said,  a 
private  affair ;  and  we  have  not  the  means  of  withdrawing  the 
veil,  and  have  consequently  no  right  to  come  to  an  unchari- 
table conclusion  toward  either  party.  We  however  infer  that 
Paine  had  a  cause  ;  without  which  his  wife  ought  to  and  would 
have  exposed  him,  especially  as  she  was  surrounded  by  his 
bitter  enemies. 

Paine,  while  at  Lewes,  was  a  whig  ;  and  as  such  never 
thought  of  examining  the  first  principles  of  government.  A 
king,  lords,  and  commons,  were  admitted  as  forming  the  best 
government  by  the  admixture  of  the  three  sorts,  royal,  aris- 
tocratic, and  democratic.  As  a  whig,  all  he  sought  was  the 
preservation  of  the  supposed  constitution ;  but  a  trifling  ex- 
pression from  one  of  his  companions,  gave  his  thoughts  a 
deeper  range,  and  formed  the  basis  of  his  "  Common  Sense"  and 
"  Rights  of  Man,"  which  afterward  so  materially  influenced  the 
^  people  in  North  America,  France,  and  England.  While  sitting 
over  some  punch  after  a  game  at  bowls,  a  Mr.  Verral  observed 
of  Frederick,  king  of  Prussia,  that  "  he  was  the  best  fellow  in 
the  world  for  a  king ;  he  had  so  much  of  the  devil  in  him." 
Simple  and  accidental  as  this  observation  was,  it  turned  Paine's 
thoughts  on  the  rights  by  which  kings  existed  and  governed, 
and  thus  led  him  into  an  examination  of  the  inherent  rights  of 
the  people ;  while  the  breaking  up  of  his  business,  and  separa- 
tion from  his  wife,  led  him  forward  to  the  proper  scene  in  which 
his  talents  and  his  principles  could  be  properly  estimated. 
Sherwin,  speaking  of  this  period,  remarks  : 

"  Our  author  was  by  this  and  prior  events  relieved  from 
every  tie  which  might  be  supposed  to  bind  him  to  his  country. 
Deprived  of  his  home,  and  destitute  of  friends  and  employ- 
ment, he  had  to  commence  life  anew,  and  that  without  either 
credit  or  capital.  His  parents  were  become  much  advanced 
in  years ;  their  industry  was  no  more  than  sufficient  to  pro- 
cure a  maintenance  for  themselves,  and  therefore  Paine  could 
not  have  derived,  even  if  he  had  desired,  any  assistance  from 
their  kindness.  The  cheerless  prospect  which  lay  expanded 
before  him,  the  misfortunes  that  had  already  befallen  him,  and 
the  desolate  situation  in  which  he  was  then  placed,  must  have 


LOSES  HIS  PROPERTY  AND  PROSPECTS.  27 

impressed  upon  his  mind  the  idea  that  to  whatever  country 
he  went,  it  was  impossible  for  his  condition  to  become  worse. 
In  England  there  was  no  hope.  Every  change  only  brought 
an  accumulation  of  fresh  misfortunes.  Borne  down  by 
poverty,  and  surrounded  by  difficulties  of  every  description, 
his  condition  appears  to  have  been  that  of  a  ruined,  hopeless 
man. 

In  this  situation  many  would  have  sat  down  discouraged 
without  a  struggle.  But  despair  and  dismay  appear  to 
have  formed  no  part  of  Paine's  character.  He  seems  never 
to  have  sunk  into  the  extreme  of  depression,  or  to  have  risen 
to  that  tumultuous  gladness  which  so  often  accompanies  the 
extreme  of  elevation.  His  mind  appears  never  to  have  been 
crushed  by  defeat,  or  elated  by  success.  The  unshaken  for- 
titude which  can  smile  on  disappointment  and  danger,  and 
look  serenely  amidst  the  tumult  of  triumph,  seems  to  have 
been  the  most  prominent  feature  in  his  character. 

"  After  the  sale  of  his  effects  and  the  separation  from  his 
wife  were  concluded,  our  author  again  went  to  London.  By 
what  means  he  procured  a  living  during  his  stay  in  the  me- 
tropolis is  unknown,  but  soon  after  his  arrival  he  obtained  an 
introduction  to  Dr.  Franklin,  who  advised  him  to  go  to  Amer- 
ica. The  doctor  probably  perceived  in  his  interviews  with 
Paine  that  he  was  a  man  possessed  of  abilities  of  no  ordinary 
character,  and  this  accounts  for  the  readiness  with  which  he  x 
furnished  him  with  a  letter  of  introduction  to  one  of  his 
most  intimate  friends  in  the  United  States.  Our  author  was 
thus  afforded  an  opportunity  of  beginning  life  again,  and  that 
at  an  age  when  his  ardent  and  enterprising  spirit  must  have 
been  considerably  tamed  by  the  sharp  lessons  of  adversity. 
He  had  as  he  himself  observes,cserved  an  apprenticeship  to  life,' 
and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  those  sublime  ideas  on  the 
subject  of  liberty  which  were  afterward  to  raise  his  name  so 
very  high  in  the  temple  of  fame,  were  produced  by  his  early 
misfortunes. 

'  By  wo  the  soul  to  daring  action  swells ; 
By  wo  in  plaintness  patience  it  excels ; 
From  patience,  prudent,  clear  experience  springs, 
And  traces  knowledge  through  the  cause  of  things  ! 
Thence  hope  is  formed,  thence  fortitude,  success, 
Renown — whate'er  men  covet  and  caress.' 

SAVAGE. 

Poverty  is  certainly  not  the  parent  of  genius,  but  it  is  un- 
questionably its  best  preceptor.  The  finest  productions  we 
have  in  the  language  have  been  written  by  men  whose  intel- 
lectual  powers  have  forced  their  way  into  life  under  circum- 
stances of  the  most  abject  penury.  In  most  instances  it  has 
happened  that  the  fire  of  genius  has  been  long  confined  by 


\ 


28  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

the  heavy  black  clouds  of  adversity,  before  it  acquired  suffi- 
cient strength  to  burst  its  boundary ;  and  as  the  streaming 
lightning  is  more  or  less  vivid  in  proportion  to  the  density  or 
lightness  of  the  clouds  which  encompass  it,  so  it  has  gener- 
ally proved  that  the  powers  of  a  fine  imagination  have  been 
more  or  less  brilliant,  in  proportion  to  the  poverty  or  plenty 
by  which  the  possessor  was  surrounded.  The  enlivening  wit 
of  Congreve,  the  melting  scenes  of  Otway,  the  rural  tender- 
ness and  pathetic  simplicity  of  Goldsmith,  and  the  dignified 
ease  and  elegance  of  Thomson,  would  have  been  unknown  to 
us,  if  these  luminaries  in  the  hemisphere  of  literature  had 
been  born  in  a  state  of  affluence  ;  for  though  the  men  might 
have  lived  with  much  more  comfort  to  themselves  than  they 
did,  it  is  very  probable  that  the  easy  couch  and  plentiful  board 
would  have  destroyed  the  inspiration  which  gave  birth  to 
their  finest  productions. 

But  to  our  author.  He  had  by  this  time  seen  enough  of 
the  world  to  despise  its  follies,  and  he  had  witnessed  too  ma- 
ny of  the  bad  effects  of  misgovernment  in  his  native  country 
to  feel  any  affection  for  them,  when  directed  against  the 
country  of  which  he  was  about  to  become  a  citizen.  Dr. 
Franklin  could  not  therefore  have  selected  a  man  more  likely 
to  repay  his  kindness  in  vindicating  the  cause  of  the  people, 
by  whom  he  was  deputed  ambassador  to  England.  Our  au- 
thor sailed  from  this  country  [England]  toward  the  end  of 
the  year  1774,  and  arrived  at  Philadelphia  about  two  months 
afterward." 

We  have  thus  briefly  brought  Mr.  Paine  to  the  close  of  the 
first  period  of  his  life ;  a  period  of  no  important  interest  to 
the  public  ;  and  only  valuable  as  qualifying  him  for  the  other 
periods,  which  belonged  wholly  to  the  public.  His  good 
sense  was  the  work  of  nature;  his  acquired  knowledge, 
whether  of  books  or  men,  was  the  effect  of  study  and  obser- 
vation ;  but  to  these  was  added  experience,  the  result  of 
accident ;  but  admirably  adapted  to  fit  him  for  his  future  tasks, 
of  which  he  could  have  no  conception.  We  have  seen  him 
necessarily  a  mechanic,  a  sailor,  a  tradesman,  an  exciseman, 
a  storekeeper,  and  a  teacher,  acquainted  with  London,  and 
different  sections  of  Great  Britain ;  intimate  with  the  cor- 
ruptions and  revenue  of  the  country  from  his  connexion  with 
the  excise  ;  an  author,  a  politician,  and  associating  with  vari- 
ous classes  in  the  community ;  with  a  habit  for  observation 
and  original  thinking,  and  thus  qualified  to  address  a  whole 


LEAVES  ENGLAND.  29 

people  on  the  subject  of  liberty.  His  father  a  quaker,  his 
mother  of  the  established  church,  and  his  wife  and  her 
friends  dissenters,  he  could  have  but  little  religious  prejudice. 
While  accident,  however  painful  to  himself,  which  sent  him 
to  this  country,  unencumbered  with  either  wife,  family,  or 
fortune,  contributed  highly  to  render  him  devoted  to  the 
people  among  whom  he  was  about  to  reside,  during  their 
arduous  struggle  in  support  of  liberty. 


30  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE, 


PART    II. 

FROM  MR.  PAINE'S  ARRIVAL  IN  AMERICA  TO  THE  END  OF  THE  WAR 
OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

MR.  PAINE  having  resolved  to  leave  England,  brought  letters 
of  recommendation  from  Dr.  Franklin,  then  on  an  embassy 
from  a  northern  state  to  the  British  government  in  London. 
Mr.  Paine  left  England  in  the  autumn  of  1774,  and  arrived  at 
y  Philadelphia  in  the  latter  part  of  the  same  year  ;  and  not  in 
as  Dr.  Rush  states.     Sherwin  correctly  says : 


"  From  this  period  to  the  day  of  his  death,  the  abilities  of 
Paine  never  lay  dormant.  Very  shortly  after  his  arrival  in 
Philadelphia,  he  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Aitkin,  a  re- 
spectable  bookseller  of  that  town.  In  January,  1775,  Mr.  Ait- 
kin  commenced  the  publication  of  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine, 
of  which  Paine  became  the  editor.  Many  of  the  pieces  in 
this  publication  are  truly  elegant.  In  these,  as  in  most  of  his 
other  writings,  he  is  singularly  happy  in  clothing  an  original 
boldness  of  thought  with  a  peculiar  beauty  of  diction.  The 
article  in  which  he  treats  of  the  hidden  riches  of  the  earth, 
and  the  diligence  with  which  we  ought  to  search  after  them, 
is  a  fine  specimen  of  this  rare  combination.  The  well-known 
song  on  the  death  of  General  Wolfe,  appeared  in  an  early 
number  of  this  magazine  ;  and  it  is  unquestionably  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  productions  of  the  sort  in  the  English  language. 
The  ideas  would  have  done  honor  to  any  of  the  poets  of  old, 
and  the  poetry  is  an  example  of  the  most  polished  versifica- 
tion. As  this  little  piece  is  still  much  admired,  even  by  those 
who  disapprove  of  its  author's  political  and  religious  notions, 
I  here  insert  it,  as  transcribed  from  an  original  copy : 

SONG  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  GENERAL  WOLFE. 

'  In  a  mouldering  cave,  where  the  wretched  retreat, 

Britannia  sat  wasted  with  care : 
She  mourned  for  her  Wolfe,  and  exclaimed  against  fate, 

And  gave  herself  up  to  despair. 
The  walls  of  her  cell  she  had  sculptured  around 

With  the  feats  of  her  favorite  son, 
And  even  the  dust,  as  it  lay  on  the  ground, 

Was  engraved  with  some  deeds  he  had  done. 


LINES  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  WOLFE.  31 

The  sire  of  the  gods,  from  his  crystalline  throne, 

Beheld  the  disconsolate  dame, 
And,  moved  with  her  tears,  he  seat  Mercury  down, 

And  these  were  the  tidings  that  came : 
"  Britannia,  forbear,  not  a  sigh  or  a  tear, 

For  thy  Wolfe,  so  deservedly  loved  ; 
Your  tears  shall  be  changed  into  triumphs  of  joy, 

For  thy  Wolfe  is  not  dead,  but  removed. 

The  sons  of  the  east,  the  proud  giants  of  old, 

Have  crept  from  their  darksome  abodes, 
And  this  is  the  news,  as  in  heaven  it  was  told, 
»       They  were  marching  to  war  with  the  gods. 
A  council  was  held  in  the  chambers  of  Jove, 

And  this  was  their  final  decree, 
That  Wolfe  should  be  called  to  the  armies  above, 

And  the  charge  was  intrusted  to  me. 

To  the  plains  of  Quebec  with  the  orders  I  flew, 

He  begged  for  a  moment's  delay ; 
He  cried, '  Oh  forbear,  let  me  victory  hear, 

And  then  thy  commands  I'll  obey.' 
With  a  darksome  thick  film  I  encompassed  his  eyes, 

And  bore  him  away  in  an  urn ; 
Lest  the  fondness  he  bore  to  his  own  native  shore 

Should  induce  him  again  to  return." ' 

In  addition  to  the  above,  he  wrote  several  other  articles  for 
the  Pennsylvania  Magazine,  of  considerable  literary  merit. 
These  principally  consist  of  a  letter  to  the  publisher  on  the 
utility  of  magazines  in  general ;  *  Useful  and  Entertaining 
Hints  on  the  Internal  Riches  of  the  Colonies;7  'Reflections 
on  the  Death  of  Lord  Clive  ;'  and  *  New  Anecdotes  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great.'  The  l  Reflections  on  the  Death  of  Lord 
Clive,'  I  have  not  seen,  though  I  have  been  at  considerable 
pains  to  procure  them ;  but  I  have  been  informed  that  they 
contain  much  originality  of  thought,  and  that  they  caused  the 
work  to  be  sought  after  with  great  avidity.  He  likewise  wrote 
for  the  same  publication  an  elegant  little  piece  in  the  form  of 
a  poetical  dialogue,  between  a  snowdrop  and  a  critic,  in  which 
the  former  is  made  to  describe  the  variety  and  pleasure  in- 
tended to  be  conveyed  to  the  public  through  the  medium  of 
the  new  work,  in  opposition  to  the  cavilling  objections  of  the 
latter.  These  productions  are  already  in  the  possession  of 
the  public,  and  they  serve  to  show  the  versatility  of  our 
author's  disposition/" 

Dr.  Rush,  of  Philadelphia,  and  formerly  a  member  of  that 
congress  which  declared  these  states  independent,  in  his  letter 
to  Cheetham,  says  that  Paine  came  to  this  country  with  the 
design  of  opening  a  school  for  the  instruction  of  young  ladies 
in  branches  of  literature  not  then  generally  taught.  Paine's 
introduction  to  Mr.  Aitkin  appears  to  have  been  through  Dr. 
Franklin's  recommendations.  There  Dr.  Rush  met  him  ;  and 
afterward,  being  excited  by  an  article  in  one  of  Mr.  Aitkin's 


32  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

papers  on  the  subject  of  the  African  slavery,  he  sought  his 
acquaintance.  And  in  that  letter  ascribes  to  himself  suggest- 
ing to  Paine  the  subject  of  his  "  Common  Sense,"  and  the  title. 
That  letter,  though  highly  favorable  to  Paine,  is  certainly 
egotistical,  which  renders  this  suggestion  doubtful ;  especially 
as  the  object  of  Cheetham  in  getting  that  letter  written  to  him, 
as  well  as  others  from  different  persons,  was  obviously  to  pare 
off*,  if  possible,  any  part  of  Paine's  reputation.  Dr.  Rush  was 
clearly  incorrect  in  one  of  his  dates  j  and  distinctly  marks 
his  prejudice  in  conclusively  stating,  that  he  declined  to  see 
Paine  on  his  last  return  to  this  country,  on  account  of  the 
principles  avowed  in  his  "Age  of  Reason."  This  observation, 
though  intended  by  Dr.  Rush  to  exalt  himself  at  the  expense 
of  Mr.  Paine,  and  as  such  is  published  by  Cheetham,  is,  in  fact, 
highly  important.  It  satisfactorily  accounts  for  many  of  Paine's 
early  sycophants  deserting  him,  without  any  dereliction  of 
personal  worth  on  his  part. 

Mr.  Paine's  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Franklin ;  the  object  of 
his  coming  to  this  country  (to  introduce  a  higher  scale  of 
education  than  that  in  use) ;  his  first  employment  (engaged 
or  hired  to  edit  a  new  magazine,  and  other  periodicals  pub* 
lished  by  Aitkin)  ;  the  success  and  reputation  of  those  publi- 
cations, and  his  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Rush  as  a  consequence 
of  his  reputation ;  the  very  idea  of  Dr.  Rush  suggesting  to 
Mr.  Paine  the  subject  of  a  pamphlet  to  act  on  the  people, 
whether  true  or  false,  together  with  the  circumstances  just 
noted,  mark  Mr.  Paine  as  then  possessing  literary  attainments 
in  an  eminent  degree  ;  and  ought  to  have  preserved  him 
against  the  vulgar  abuse  with  which  so  many  of  the  clergy 
and  his  theological  opponents  have  assailed  him.  This  attack 
on  his  literary  character,  successful  in  an  extraordinary  de- 
gree, depended  on  the  suppression  of  his  works  j  the  pre- 
sumption of  the  ignorance  of  those  works  by  the  body  of  the 
party  addressed  ;  and  on  the  assumption  of  the  power  of  the 
clergy  to  prevent  those  works  being  read.  It  is  remarkable, 
that  Cheetham,  dishonest  in  his  purposes,  and,  comparatively 
with  Paine,  of  small  abilities,  and  very  prejudiced  and  ignor- 
ant, makes  also  this  charge,  while  he  himself  furnishes  the 
most  satisfactory  proofs  to  the  contrary.  In  Cheetham's  life 


HIS  STYLE  IN  POLITE  LITERATURE.  33 

is  to  be  found  the  song  we  have  already  inserted.  He  likewise 
furnishes  the  following  beautiful  extract  from  the  pen  of  Paine, 
published  in  an  early  number  of  Aitkin's  magazine,  from  which 
the  style  of  Paine  may  be  inferred  in  what  is  called  polite 
literature. 

"  In  one  of  his  lucubrations,  adverting  to  the  riches  of  the 
earth,  the  diligence  which  is  necessary  to  discover,  and  the 
labor  to  possess  them,  he  thus  elegantly  invites  us  to  industry 
and  research : — 

4  Though  nature  is  gay,  polite,  and  generous  abroad,  she  is 
sullen,  rude,  and  niggardly  at  home.  Return  the  visit,  and 
she  admits  you  with  all  the  suspicion  of  a  miser,  and  all  the 
reluctance  of  an  antiquated  beauty  retired  to  replenish  her 
charms.  Bred  up  in  antideluvian  notions,  she  has  not  yet  ac- 
quired the  European  taste  of  receiving  visitants  in  her  dres- 
sing-room :  she  locks  and  bolts  up  her  private  recesses  with 
extraordinary  care,  as  if  not  only  resolved  to  preserve  her 
hoards,  but  to  conceal  her  age,  and  hide  the  remains  of  a  face 
that  was  young  and  lovely  in  the  days  of  Adam.  He  that 
would  view  nature  in  her  undress,  and  partake  of  her  internal 
treasures,  must  proceed  with  the  resolution  of  a  robber,  if  not 
a  ravisher.  She  gives  no  invitation  to  follow  her  to  the  cav- 
ern :  the  external  earth  makes  no  proclamation  of  the  interior 
stores,  but  leaves  to  chance  and  industry  the  discovery  of  the 
whole.  In  such  gifts  as  nature  can  annually  recreate,  she  is 
noble  and  profuse,  and  entertains  the  whole  world  with  the 
interest  of  her  fortunes,  but  watches  over  the  capital  with  the 
care  of  a  miser.  Her  gold  and  jewels  lie  concealed  in  the 
earth  in  caves  of  utter  darkness  j  the  hoards  of  wealth,  heaps 
upon  heaps,  mould  in  the  chests,  like  the  riches  of  a  necro- 
mancer's cell.  It  must  be  very  pleasant  to  an  adventurous 
speculatist  to  make  excursions  into  these  Gothic  regions ; 
and  in  his  travels  he  may  possibly  come  to  a  cabinet  locked 
up  in  some  rocky  vault,  whose  treasures  shall  reward  his  toil, 
and  enable  him  to  shine  on  his  return  as  splendidly  as  nature 
herself.' " 

Were  Paine's  works  known  and  read,  the  slander  about  his 
vulgar  style  would  necessarily  be  confuted,  without  the  labor 
of  an  advocate  ;  and  we  regret  the  necessity  of  exposing  the 
meanness  which  would  suggest  such  a  course  to  suppress  a 
•  theological  opponent.  We  are  happy  to  find  that  his  bitter 
enemies  should  be  compelled  to  resort  to  falsehood  for  such 
a  purpose.  This  conduct  on  the  part  of  his  personal  enemies, 

5 


\ 


34  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

ought  then  to  awaken  suspicion  that  this  is  not  the  only  false 
and  malicious  slander  under  which  Paine  has  too  long  lain. 

That  a  man  who  could  write  poetry  so  well  should  have 
written  so  little,  is  at  once  a  mark  of  his  good  sense  and 
strong  resolution.  Paine  had  remarked  that  poets  were  gen- 
erally pretty  triflers,  and  he  suppressed  a  talent  which  he 
thought  of  little  use  to  society.  It  is  evident  that  Paine  was 
not  naturally  fond  of  politics  ;  he  was  led  by  circumstances, 
and  a  strong  sense  of  justice  and  utility,  into  the  course  he 
took.  The  beauties  of  nature  and  the  happiness  of  the  human 
family  occupied  his  mind.  And  the  violence  done  to  nature, 
and  to  human  happiness  by  tyranny  and  superstition,  together 
with  the  remarkable  events  of  his  day,  deflected  his  course 
from  the  pursuits  of  peace,  which  he  was  so  fitted  to  enjoy, 
into  the  more  violent  but  useful  course  he  did  pursue.  The 
man  who  could  write  the  beautiful  article  we  have  just 
quoted,  did  not  want  the  excitement  of  a  storm  or  a  revolu- 
tion to  give  zest  to  life.  Nothing  could  be  more  beautiful 
than  either  Paine's  poetry  or  prose  j  he  possesses  not  only 
strength  and  clearness,  but  a  beauty  of  diction  surpassed  by 
no  English  writer  we  know  :  and  if  we  wished  to  recommend 
a  single  model  for  fine  English  composition,  we  should  cer- 
tainly name  Paine's  writings  as  the  best. 

•  We  find  Mr.  Paine  so  completely  identified  with  every  great 
point  in  the  revolution,  and  of  the  independence  of  this  coun- 
try, that  we  cannot  do  justice  to  him  without  giving  a  brief 
but  clear  account  of  those  events,  and  the  circumstances 
which  led  to  them.  Indeed,  some  of  the  most  important 
events  to  be  related  were  actually  created  or  produced  by 
him.  Other  men  have  followed  events  j  Paine  actually  crea- 
ted them. 

Soon  after  the  discovery  of  this  continent  colonies  began 
to  be  planted  in  North  America.  During  the  last  century  the 
French  held  the  north  or  Canada,  and  large  portions  of  the 
south  and  west.  The  English  had  several  colonies  in  the 
middle,  while  other  Europeans  had  made  small  settlements. 
These  colonies  were  little  regarded  at  first ;  they  were  safe- 
ty-valves for  daring  spirits  who  were  discontented  at  home. 
The  inhabitants  formed  an  amalgamation,  as  they  have  done 


CAUSES  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  35 

since,  from  every  clime  ;  but  with  the  exception  of  those 
transported  to  these  shores  for  their  crimes,  they  were  indus-  / 
tnpji£_an^jn^eDendent,  the  general  characteristics  of  all  vol-  v 
untary  emigrants.  Colonies  have  always  been  regarded  by 
the  English  government  only  as  they  profit  the  mother-coun- 
try, or  rather  the  party  governing.  In  the  first  place  large 
grants  of  territory  were  made  by  various  English  sovereigns, 
either  as  rewards  to  favorites,  or  for  some  services  received, 
and  these  grants  being  made  without  a  correct  knowledge  of 
the  country  or  rights  of  the  natives,  they  were  frequently 
given  with  uncertain  boundaries  ;  which,  as  we  shall  presently 
see,  was  the  remote  cause  of  the  American  war  of  independ- 
ence. When  the  colonists,  by  dint  of  their  own  industry, 
could  raise  a  surplus  of  some  produce,  they  became  importers 
of  manufactured  goods,  and  as  such  an  object  of  attention  to 
the  government  of  Great  Britain.  But  the  interference  of 
the  British  government  was  for  their  own  benefit.  They  ap- 
pointed governors,  always  sycophants  of  power,  to  be  paid 
by  the  colonists.  And  they  regulated  their  trade  so  as  to 
produce  to  Great  Britain  the  greatest  advantage.  A  liberal 
policy,  the  mutual  benefit  of  both  parties,  has  never  yet  been 
conceived  and  executed  by  any  ministry.  The  very  princi- 
ples of  the  British  government  laid  the  seeds  of  discontent, 
and  established  two  interests :  the  governor  pursued  his  own 
and  the  interests  of  Britain,  or  rather  what  he  thought  the 
interests  of  the  British  government ;  while  the  assemblies 
formed  by  the  people,  and  their  juries  (for  British  settlers 
claimed  British  rights  and  customs),  naturally  preferred  the 
interests  of  the  colonies. 

In  1750,  a  company  was  formed  in  London  called  the  Ohio 
company.  They  obtained  a  grant  of  six  hundred  thousand 
acres  of  land  on  the  rivers  Ohio  and  Mississippi.  This  grant 
was  made  without  much  regard  to  the  Indian  rights,  and  as  it 
cut  off  the  northern  French  territories  from  their  southern 
and  western,  the  French  resisted  it  in  practice.  The  trade 
of  this  company  was  chiefly  carried  on  by  the  Virginians ;  but 
these  traders  were  constantly  annoyed  by  the  French,  who  at 
last  built  a  fort  on  the  Ohio,  and  a  French  governor  went  so 
far  as  to  order  the  seizure  of  every  British  subject  found  tra- 


36  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

ding  there.  To  counteract  this  the  Virginians  formed  a 
troop  with  which  to  protect  their  traders,  and  in  this  troop 
Washington  was  employed  as  a  volunteer  in  the  year  1753, 
and  in  the  winter  of  that  year  undertook  an  arduous  embassy 
to  the  French  commandant,  through  a  district  that  could  not 
then  be  travelled  by  a  horse,  and  at*  this  early  period  marked 
out  spots  eligible  for  forts,  especially  Fort  Duquesne.  The 
embassy  failing,  force  was  attempted,  and  Washington  became 
lieutenant  to  Colonel  Fry.  The  French  fort  became  the  thea- 
tre of  war,  which  was  alternately  taken  and  retaken ;  during 
which  petty  battles  Colonel  Fry  died  and  left  Washington  in 
command ;  and  in  this  situation  the  general  of  the  revolution 
gained  some  fame  from  a  masterly  retreat  before  a  very  su- 
perior force  of  regular  French  soldiers.  When  the  British 
government  heard  of  these  transactions  they  resolved  to  profit 
by  them,  and  to  dispossess  the  French  of  some  of  their  terri- 
tories through  the  means  and  at  the  expense  of  the  colonies. 
They  directed  the  governors  of  the  several  states  to  form  a 
union,  and  raise  a  force  j  and  that  these  united  governors,  as- 
sisted by  two  members  of  their  respective  council,  should 
direct  the  whole,  and  draw  upon  the  British  treasury  for  the 
necessary  expenses,  in  the  first  instance,  but  to  be  reimbursed 
by  a  £fl^LJ:<?i<^^^  This 

is  the  origin  of  the  question  which  led, to  the  disputes  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  colonies,  which  ultimately  led  to 
independence.  Franklin  was  consulted  on  this  subject  by 
Governor  Shirley,  and  he  at  once  declared  the  principle  of 
taxation  by  the  British  parliament,  in  which  they  were  not 
represented,  to  be  unconstitutional  and  unjust.  And  thus  he, 
too,  as  early  as  1754,  was  initiated  into  the  principles  and  in- 
to the  subjects  on  which  he  so  much  distinguished  himself 
at  a  period  twenty  years  later. 

In  1755,  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  George  II.,  sent  out  a 
large  armament,  Admiral  Boscawen,  to  St.  Lawrence,  and 
General  Braddock  to  Virginia,  without  a  declaration  of  war, 
assuming  that  the  French  had  commenced  hostilities ;  and 
Washington  became  the  aid-de-camp  of  Braddock.  Braddock 
led  his  army  into  the  field,  relying  chiefly  on  his  veterans  ; 
nay,  actually  despising  the  militia  of  the  country,  and  neg- 


CAUSES  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  37 

lecting  the  experience  of  Washington.  Near  Fort  Duquesne 
he  was  caught  in  an  Indian  defile,  and  subject  to  a  species  of 
warfare  he  was  unaccustomed  to ;  and  in  that  battle  he  was 
slain.  Washington  extricated  the  army  from  its  perilous  sit- 
uation, retreated  to  Philadelphia,  and  afterward  defended  the 
frontiers  of  Virginia  with  much  ability.  Pitt,  afterward  Lord 
Chatham,  becoming  minister  in  England,  pushed  the  war  with 
vigor  5  and  sent  out  Lord  Amherst,  an  excellent  commander, 
assisted  by  Wolfe,  General  Forbes,  and  others.  In  1758, 
Forbes  took  Fort  Duquesne,  while  Wolfe  lost  his  life  at,  but 
took  Quebec  5  and  in  1760  Amherst  took  Montreal  j  and  in 
1762,  the  whole  of  Canada  and  French  North  America  was 
yielded  to  the  English,  except  New  Orleans  and  the  adjacent 
province.  At  this  period,  and  in  the  following  year,  the  col- 
onists were  perfectly  content.  They  did  not  expect  Indian 
aggression  when  not  supported  by  French  power.  They  were 
satisfied  with  Britain  imposing  on  them  governors,  as  repre- 
sentatives of  royalty,  while  they  enjoyed  their  colonial  assem- 
blies, their  trial  by  jury,  and  other  British  rights  ;  they  were 
in  fact,  satisfied  British  subjects,  approving  of  king,  lords,  and 
commons,  and,  like  other  British  subjects,  boasted  of  their 
liberty  and  their  matchless  constitution ;  which  they  really 
thought,  for  the  opinion  was  common,  that  this  mixed  gov- 
ernment united  all  that  was  excellent  in  each ;  while  the 
parts  checking  each  other,  suppressed  all  that  was  vicious  in 
royalty,  aristocracy,  or  democracy.  They  were  afterward  to 
be  taught  the  fallacy  of  these  opinions  by  Thomas  Paine.  At 
this  period,  1763,  they  were  politically  divided,  as  in  England, 
into  whigs  and  tories ;  or  those  who  assumed  to  defend  or 
extend  the  popular  part  of  the  government,  and  those  who 
leaned  to  the  aristocratical  part,  and  favored  the  restriction 
of  representation  to  property  qualifications,  and  privileged  or 
self-elected  corporations :  but  the  whigs  predominated.  It  is 
to  this  period,  1763,  that  the  colonists  constantly  refer  in  the 
early  part  of  their  revolution,  before  the  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence, as  the  situation  to  which  they  wished  to  be  restor- 
ed; and  therefore  it  deserves  particular  attention.  Parlia- 
mentary taxation  had  been  named,  but  never  enforced  or 
acted  upon  j  and  in  all  their  after-petitions  all  they  ask,  is  the 


38  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

repeal  of  laws  since  1763.  "  Place  us,"  they  repeatedly  say, 
"  in  the  situation  in  which  we  then  were."  No  feeling  of  re- 
publicanism is  perceived  in  their  addresses  ;  none  in  their 
public  acts.  Nothing  of  the  kind  was  openly  avowed  by  any 
of  their  leading  men  j  and  the  individuals  who  did  occasion- 
ally hint  at  such  an  event,  were  regarded  as  ultras ;  who, 
however  correct  in  theory,  held  dangerous  and  impracticable 
doctrines :  and  these  were  the  national  feelings  up  to  the 
ery  eve  of  the  declaration  of  independence ;  just  before 
which  a  change  in  the  whole  public  sentiment  was  effected  by 
the  powerful  pen  of  Thomas  Paine,  in  his  "  Common  Sense  ;M 
before  which  publication  the  only  object  avowed,  even  by  the 
great  men  of  the  age,  and  seriously  sought  after  by  the  rest  of 
the  people,  was  to  be  placed  in  the  situation  of  1763  ;  to  be 
restored  to  royal  favor,  and  to  enjoy  their  old  British  privileges 
(not  rights). 

In  1764  commenced  the  British  and  colonial  troubles.  Mr. 
George  Grenville  had  then  become  minister  in  Britain.  He 
proposed  to  raise  a  revenue  in  the  American  colonies  for  the 
exclusive  use  of  the  British  treasury.  This  was,  of  course, 
based  upon  the  late  expense  of  the  war,  borne  by  Great  Brit- 
ain, and  in  consonance  with  the  scheme  before  noted,  of  future 
remuneration  to  the  mother-country.  About  the  same  time 
that  this  measure  was  talked  of,  other  obnoxious  acts  were 
attempted.  In  Massachusetts,  the  governor  published  in  sup- 
port of  the  ministry,  and  attempted  to  establish  a  religious 
test,  by  giving  offices  only  to  episcopalians :  on  which  occa- 
sion the  people  sent  agents  to  England.  On  March  10,  1764, 
the  stamp  act  was  declared  (not  acted  upon) ;  which  made 
certain  transactions  unlawful  if  not  recorded  on  stamped 
paper,  paid  for  as  a  tax.  Against  this  Virginia  led  the  way 
by  petition  and  remonstrance  ;  Massachusetts  passed  legisla- 
tive censures  ;  and  these  two  states  took  the  lead  in  the 
whole  of  the  preliminary  contests  and  revolutionary  war.  The 
memorials  were  not  received  by  parliament ;  but  the  parties 
were  suffered  to  be  heard  by  council.  Dr.  Franklin  at  this 
time  was  agent  for  Massachusetts.  In  1765  the  stamp  act 
passed,  and  Boston  went  into  mourning ;  manifested  great 
public  spirit ;  and  her  merchants  agreed  to  import  no  goods 


CAUSES  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  39 

till  the  unjust  act  should  be  repealed  ;  while  the  lower  classes 
committed  some  acts  of  violence.  In  Virginia  a  legislative 
action  was  had  on  it.  Patrick  Henry,  then  a  young  man,  and 
scarcely  acquainted  with  the  rules  of  the  assembly,  waited  for 
the  action  of  some  of  the  elder  legislators  ;  but  finding  them 
silent,  or  disposed  to  conciliate,  he  rose  in  his  place,  and  pro- 
posed a  series  of  resolutions,  denouncing  the  stamp  act  as 
violations  of  their  ancient  charters,  and  destructive  of  British 
and  American  freedom,  and  disclaiming  any  other  authority 
to  enforce  taxes  than  a  general  assembly.  These  resolutions, 
after  considerable  debate,  were  admitted,  and  served  as  a 
precedent  for  other  states.  The  biographer  of  Patrick  Henry, 
the  late  Mr.  Wirt,  relates,  that  after  Mr,  Henry's  death,  a 
sealed  paper  was  found,  directed  to  be  read  only  when  he  had 
ceased  to  live.  This  paper  contained  the  resolutions  referred 
to,  with  remarks  of  Mr.  Henry  in  his  own  handwriting. 
He  observes  :  "  The  resolutions  passed  with  a  small  major- 
ity ;  but  the  alarm  spread  throughout  America.  The  minis- 
terial party  were  overwhelmed  :  the  great  point  of  resistance 
to  British  taxation  was  universally  established  in  the  colo- 
nies. This  brought  on  the  war,  which  finally  separated  the 
two  countries." 

In  every  chain  of  events  there  are  some  links  of  more  im- 
portance than  others  ;  nay,  essential  to  that  chain.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  Patrick  Henry  thought  so  of  these  resolutions :  it  is 
equally  evident  that  he  himself  looked  forward  to  a  separation 
of  the  two  countries,  and  regarded  these  resolutions  as  im- 
portant to  that  object ;  yet  on  the  face  of  them  they  only 
claim  what  every  Briton  claims,  and  independence  and  repub- 
licanism are  not  even  hinted.  The  time  had  not  yet  come 
for  such  sentiments  to  be  broached  j  nor  how  it  was  to  come 
was  not  then  known,  either  to  Patrick  Henry  or  to  any  other 
patriot.  The  man  who  was  destined  to  convert  a  nation  by 
a  few  pages  of  "  common  sense,"  was  then  in  obscurity  j  had 
just  resigned  staymaking  for  a  paltry  office  in  the  English 
excise,  and  had  never  published  an  article  :  but  the  resolutions  \/ 
of  Patrick  Henry  contributed  to  the  crisis  which  brought  Mr. 
Paine  forward  as  an  author ;  and  as  such  we  regard  him  as  a 


40  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

chief  link,  too,  in  the  chain  of  events  which  produced  and 
consummated  the  revolution. 

In  this  same  year,  1765,  one  James  Otis,  in  Massachusetts, 
proposed  a  congress  to  be  held  in  New  York.  A  committee 
was  formed  to  arrange  this.  South  Carolina  was  the  first  to 
yield  to  the  suggestion.  The  various  governors,  alarmed, 
prorogued  the  assemblies  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and 
Georgia :  but  committees  of  correspondence  were  established 
in  each  state  ;  and  thus  the  nucleus  of  organized  resistance 
was  formed.  On  the  day  the  stamp  act  was  to  take  effect, 
Boston  had  the  bells  tolled  ;  public  meetings  were  held,  and 
fast  days  appointed.  Violence  in  some  cases  was  used :  and 
to  wear  homespun  became  respectable,  as  marking  national 
principle.  The  violent  opposition  to  the  stamp  act  induced 
inquiry  in  London.  Franklin  was  examined  at  the  bar  of  the 
house ;  and  the  whigs  generally  wished  the  repeal  of  the  ob- 
noxious stamp  act.  In  the  house  of  lords  it  is  remarkable, 
that  the  bishops  first  recommended  force  to  be  used  to  the 
Americans  ;  and  the  king  did  not  wish  the  repeal  of  the  act. 
The  law  was,  however,  repealed  ;  and  such  were  the  feelings 
of  the  American  people,  that  they  manifested  the  most  rap- 
turous joy  j  and  actually  adulated  the  British  government  for 
not  doing  them  so  great  an  injustice  as  to  impose  on  them 
taxes  without  representation.  In  Virginia  a  statue  was  voted 
to  the  king.  From  Massachusetts  votes  of  thanks  were  agreed 
upon  to  the  Duke  of  Grafton  and  Mr.  Pitt ;  while  Boston,  and 
other  parts  of  the  continent,  illuminated  ;  and  rejoicings  were 
everywhere  heard.  Well  might  Thomas  Paine  say,  as  he 
afterward  did,  in  the  "  Crisis,  No.  VII. :"  "  I  found  the  dispo- 
sition of  the  people  such,  that  they  might  be  led  by  a  thread 
and  governed  by  a  reed.  Their  attachment  to  Britain  was 
obstinate ;  and  it  was  at  that  time  a  kind  of  treason  to  speak 
against  it.  They  disliked  the  ministry,  but  they  esteemed  the 
nation.  Their  ideas  of  grievance  operated  without  resent- 
ment ;  and  their  single  object  was  reconciliation." 

The  foolish  ministers  again  opened  the  wound  by  wishing 
the  states  to  remunerate  those  who  had  suffered  by  the  acts 
of  violence  in  resisting  the  stamp  act.  And  in  1767,  when 
Mr.  Pitt,  or  Lord  Chatham,  had  again  come  into  power,  but 


CAUSES  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  41 

during  his  illness,  an  act  was  passed,  "  to  restrain  the  legisla- 
tive power  in  New  York  ;"  and  soon  after  an  act  of  perfidy 
awakened  the  jealousy  and  anger  of  the  people ;  for  some 
troops  landed  in  Boston,  alleging  they  were  driven  in  precisely 
to  that  port  by  stress  of  weather.  And  in  the  same  year,  one 
Charles  Townsend,  in  the  English  parliament,  publicly  an- 
nounced a  plan  for  taxing  the  Americans  by  the  English  par-  V 
liament,  without  giving  them  offence  ;  and  this  plan,  thus 
foolishly  announced,  consisted  in  imposing  a  duty  on  glass, 
paint,  tea,  and  paper,  to  be  imported  into  the  colonies ;  and 
to  assist  this  notable  scheme,  a  board  of  admiralty  was  impos- 
ed on  the  colonies,  to  be  paid  by  the  natives,  and  whose 
operations  cramped  the  colonies  for  the  supposed  benefit  of 
the  mother-country.  These  measures  roused  the  people,  and 
again  awaked  the  worst  feelings.  Boston  took  the  lead, 
closely  followed  by  other  parts.  The  mob  committed  acts  of 
violence  ;  while  the  better  sort  were  loud  in  petitioning  and 
remonstrating.  Lord  Chatham,  who  had  been  ill,  resigned ; 
Townsend  died  ;  and  Lord  North  succeeded  as  English  chan- 
cellor of  the  exchequer,  and  afterward  as  prime  minister  :  and 
to  his  perseverance  in  a  wrong  course,  for  the  sake  of  consist- 
ency, England  lost  her  colonies  and  America  gained  her  in- 
dependence. This,  without  merit  to  Lord  North,  is  another 
important  link  in  the  chain  which  led  to  independence. 

In  this  year  the  spirit  of  resistance  was  fostered  by  some 
tolerable  essays  from  one  John  Dickenson,  Esq.,  published  in  x 
a  Philadelphia  paper  ;  while  the  seizing  of  Hancock's  sloop 
"  Liberty,"  for  smuggling,  furnished  the  Bostonians  the  sub- 
ject of  a  riot.  To  quell  this,  the  governor,  Bernard,  sent  for 
troops ;  and  the  respectable  body  of  the  people,  at  a  large 
public  meeting  held  at  Faneuil  Hall,  proposed  arming  in  fear 
of  French  invasion.  This  was  undoubtedly  a  justifiable  ruse 
to  meet  the  duplicity  of  the  English  ministers,  whose  troops 
landed  by  alleged  stress  of  weather  at  Boston :  it  shows,  too, 
that  the  Bostonians  meant  to  fight  for  their  liberty  ;  though 
independence  was  never  named,  nor  evidently  scarcely  con- 
ceived of,  except  by  a  very  few. 

In  1769,  Lord  North,  the  English  minister,  obtained  a  good 
support  both  in  the  house  of  commons  and  in  the  house  of 

6 


4£  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

lards ;  and  he  determined  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the 
English  government  in  all  things  j  and  to  prevent  the  effects 
of  native  juries,  proposed  trying  civil  officers,  charged  with 
murder  or  violence  in  the  colonies,  in  support  of  the  British 
government,  in  England.  On  this  occasion  all  the  ports 
agreed  to  suspend  importations  till  this  grievance  should  be 
removed. 

In  1769,  the  opposition  to  the  arbitrary  measures  of  the 
British  government  was  so  great  in  the  colonies,  and  so  pow- 
erful the  effect  of  the  non-importation  agreement,  that  the 
ministers  agreed  to  discontinue  all  the  duties,  except  that  on 
tea  ;  thus  perseveringly  preserving  the  principle  of  taxation 
without  representation,  while  .they  gave  up  the  greater  part 
of  the  profit.  The  war,  therefore,  that  succeeded  was  a  war 
on  principle,  not  amount,  of  taxation.  On  this  occasion, 
Lord  Chatham,  who  had  partially  recovered  from  his  late  ill- 
ness, violently  opposed  the  ministers.  During  this  and  the 
following  year,  the  spirit  of  resistance  increased,  for  the 
Americans  were  not  to  be  duped  by  the  repeal  of  taxes,  while 
the  principle  or  right  of  taxation  was  maintained.  In  Boston, 
where  the  presence  of  the  soldiers  was  obnoxious,  riots  en- 
sued; individual  quarrels  between  soldiers  and  citizens  be- 
came party  quarrels ;  and  three  of  the  soldiers  were  killed  by 
the  ropemakers.  In  New  York,  the  people  erected  liberty- 
poles,  which  the  soldiers  cut  down.  But  the  most  powerful 
incitement  to  opposition  came  from  the  pen  of  McDougal,  a 
Scotchman,  who  boldly  charged  the  assembly  with  betraying 
the  city  and  colony  of  New  York,  because  they  had  discour- 
aged the  people  and  sanctioned  the  governor  and  the  troops  ; 
not  from  attachment,  but  the  necessity  of  supporting  the 
laws.  McDougal  was  thrown  into  prison,  where  he  remained 
three  months,  and  then  dismissed  without  a  trial.  This  fact 
shows  the  force  of  his  writings,  and  we  shall  afterward  find 
this  man  rendering  essential  service,  for  which  the  notoriety 
given  him  by  this  persecution  qualified  him. 

In  1771,  Rhode  Island  showed  considerable  excitement. 
Philadelphia  refused  to  receive  the  taxed  tea ;  New  York  and 
other  places  followed,  and  the  vessels  returned.  But  in  Bos- 
ton, where  a  quantity  was  assigned,  some  of  the  people 


CAUSES  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  4-3 

dressed  like  Indians  boarded  the  ships  and  threw  three  hun- 
dred and  forty-two  chests  of  tea  into  the  sea.  Yet,  in  this 
act,  they  only  sought  the  liberties  which  the  charters  granted 
them  ;  and  in  all  their  requests,  they  simply  asked  to  be  re- 
stored to  the  situation  they  were  in  in  1763.  In  all  this  vio- 
lence the  word  independence  was  never  pronounced. 

In  1774,  North,  enraged  at  the  conduct  of  the  Bostonians, 
procured  bills,  closing  their  harbor  and  destroying  their  an- 
cient charter  and  constitution  ;  thus  punishing  a  whole  peo- 
ple and  people  unborn  for  the  specific  acts  of  some.  Against 
this  Lord  Chatham  protests  ;  andBurke  the  Irish  orator  made  >\ 
a  brilliant  speech.  The  career  of  the  latter  is  identified 
with  Paine ;  for  he  afterward  became  a  pensioner  to  the 
British  government,  and  apologist  for  the  Bourbon  family, 
andjthe  opponent  of  the  French  revolution,  and  his  work  on 
this  subject  produced  Paine's  celebrated  "Rights  of  Man." 
Boston,  when  her  harbors  were  about  to  be  closed,  appealed 
to  other  cities  and  states.  Virginia,  ever  ready  and  firm  in 
the  cause  of  opposition  to  arbitrary  measures,  appointed 
through  her  legislature  the  day  for  closing  Boston  harbor 
(1st  of  June,  1774),  as  a  day  of  solemn  fasting  ;  a  measure 
always  efficacious,  for  it  enlists  religious  enthusiasm,  and 
presents  to  the  opponent  a  ghostly  power,  of  immense  force, 
which  feels  no  blows.  Cromwell,  Mahomet,  and  Thomas  a 
Becket,  perfectly  understood  these  tactics,  and  succeeded  in 
their  use.  The  governor  dissolved  the  house  in  May,  but 
the  members  formed  an  association,  before  even  they  had 
heard  from  Boston.  They  published,  too,  a  manifesto,  rec- 
ommending that  no  East  India  produce  be  used,  except  salt- 
petre and  spice.  At  New  York,  the  parties  were  nearly 
equal ;  but  the  popularity  of  M'Dougal,  the  Scotchman  be- 
fore noticed,  for  his  spirited  writings,  gave  him  a  considera- 
ble influence,  well  supported  as  he  was  by  Captain  Sears. 
M'Dougal  had  both  the  honor  to  propose  a  second  congress, 
the  influence  to  get  a  committee  for  that  purpose,  and  the  ad- 
dress to  carry  this  out,  together  with  standing  local  commit- 
tees :  and  this  arrangement  lasted  till  the  declaration  of 
independence.  The  various  members  to  this  congress,  are 
the  distinguished  men,  whose  names  are  familiar  to  us  as  fa- 


\ 


44  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

thers  of  the  revolution.  This  congress  was  generally  ap- 
pointed by  the  legislatures,  and  made  legal,  to  effect  which 
there  were  some  previous  secret  meetings  in  Massachusetts. 
A  committee  had  been  appointed  on  the  state  of  the  province, 
which  consisted  of  Samuel  Adams,  Joseph  Warren,  John 
Hancock,  I.  Cutting,  Robert  Treat  Paine,  and  others.  Before 
they  reported  they  requested  the  doors  might  be  shut ;  and 
then  they  proceeded  to  recommend  a  congress  and  an  imme- 
diate decision.  A  spy  of  the  governor  affected  a  bowel  com- 
plaint, and  was  suffered  to  depart ;  but  neither  he,  nor  the 
governor,  nor  his  agent,  was  suffered  to  enter  till  the  congress 
was  confirmed  ;  and  the  governor's  dissolution  of  the  assem- 
bly, made  on  the  outside,  was  neither  heard  nor  regarded. 
Virginia  appointed  Washington,  Patrick  Henry,  &c.,  and  de- 
clared herself  ready  to  support  Boston,  but  at  the  same  time 
carefully  instructed  her  delegates  not  to  break  with  Britain  ; 
to  support  only  their  British  privileges,  or  what  they  claimed 
as  the  rights  of  Englishmen.  At  this  period,  Rhode  Island 
issued  a  motto,  now  familiar  to  our  ears,  but  which  at  the  same 
time  is  degraded  by  party  politics,  "United,  we  stand — divi- 
ded, we  fall."  A  motto,  a  song,  a  toast,  or  a  pamphlet,  will 
sometimes  produce  a  unanimity,  which  much  greater  efforts 
have  failed  in.  Georgia,  of  all  the  states,  sent  no  deputies 
to  this  congress ;  but  she,  too,  soon  after,  when  the  danger 
had  not  decreased,  joined  the  union. 

It  should  be  remembered,  that  about  this  time,  Mr.  Thom- 
as Paine,  by  the  advice  of  Dr.  Franklin,  then  in  England,  was 
embarking  for  North  America.  It  is  evident  that  Franklin 
had  a  design  of  benefiting  his  country  by  this  recommenda- 
tion, in  the  precise  way  in  which  Paine  effected  it  ;  for 
Franklin  soon  followed  Paine,  and  almost  immediately  offered 
to  put  into  his  hands  the  materials  for  the  eventful  history  of 
the  times.  Paine  at  that  time  was  actually  engaged  on  his 
"  Common  Sense,"  and  soon  after  sent  him  the  first  copy  to 
surprise  him  by  showing  that  he  had  anticipated  his  designs 
-and  wishes.  These  events  throw  a  sort  of  halo  about  the 
characters  of  these  two  men,  highly  respectable  to  both. 
When  Franklin  knew  Mr.  Paine,  he  was  in  London,  ruined  in 
his  fortune  and  prospects ;  of  no  literary  reputation,  but  for 


FRANKLIN  AND  PAINE.  45 

one  pamphlet,  in  which  he  pleaded  the  unpopular  cause  of 
the  excisemen.  He  had  then  no  distinguished  acquaintances, 
to  whom  he  was  indebted  for  an  introduction.  Franklin  was 
at  this  time  a  doctor,  distinguished  for  his  learning,  philoso- 
phy, and  above  all  for  his  common  sense.  He  was  an  old 
man,  pithy  and  sententious,  acquainted  with  the  manner  of 
addressing  the  people,  himself  an  author  (and  authors  are 
tenacious),  yet  he  becomes  the  friend  of  Paine,  advises  him 
to  come  to  this  country,  gives  him  letters  which  procure-him 
at  once  a  literary  engagement,  and  on  his  return  almost  im- 
mediately offers  to  put  in  his  hands  the  materials  for  the  his- 
tory of  the  times  ;  while  Paine  was  but  a  foreigner  of  a  few 
months  standing.  What,  then,  are  our  conclusions,  but  that 
Franklin  had  the  genius  to  discover  Paine' s  peculiar  tact  and 
talents,  and  that  he  had  the  address  to  second  Paine's  wishes 
in  coming  to  this  country,  without  acquainting  Paine  with 
all  his  motives,  and  thus  indirectly  to  effect  what  he  himself  * 
wished  1  But  what  means  had  Franklin  to  know  Paine  1 
His  pamphlet  on  the  excise  must  have  been  the  only  source 
by  which  his  qualities  as  a  writer  could  be  known ;  but  that 
pamphlet  is  characteristic,  and  Franklin's  conclusion  must 
have  been  correct  that  he  who  could  employ  such  good  sense, 
in  so  powerful  a  manner,  on  such  a  bad  subject,  could,  on  a 
better  subject,  effect  much.  Franklin  must,  too,  have  discov- 
ered the  sound  and  correct  judgment  of  Paine,  by  conversa- 
tions, and  he  must  have  believed  in  the  correctness  of  his 
principles  and  extent  of  his  knowledge,  before  he  could  think 
of  giving  into  his  hands  what  his  own  countrymen  thought 
himself  (Franklin)  so  capable  of.  This  conduct  of  Franklin, 
in  preferring  Paine  to  himself  for  this  important  object,  while 
it  reflects  the  greatest  credit  upon  Paine's  natural  abilities, 
acquisitions,  and  moral  virtues,  redounds  also  to  Franklin's 
glory.  It  is  great  men  only  that  can  afford  to  be  generous  j 
and  Franklin  in  this  preference  marks  a  greatness  of  character, 
which  never  forsook  him :  while  it  marks  also  the  calumni- 
ators of  Paine,  those  who  have  attempted  to  present  him  to 
the  public  as  a  demoralized,  vulgar,  and  illiterate  man,  as  base 
unprincipled  slanderers,  whose  calumnies  are  not  the  less 
venomous  for  proceeding  frequently  from  reverend  persons. 


46  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

While  Mr.  Paine  was  preparing  to  leave  his  country,  and 
during  his  voyage,  events  were  ripening  the  crisis  which 
should  render  his  services  valuable.  Boston  was  distressed 
by  a  blockade  ;  while  the  men,  assisted  even  by  the  women, 
exercised  themselves  in  arms.  The  governor  of  Boston  had 
removed  to  Salem ;  but  the  spirit  of  the  people  brought 
him  back.  His  proclamations  availed  nothing.  Meetings 
were  held :  and  we  cannot  but  observe  the  imperfect  notions 
of  political  justice  and  civil  rights,  when  among  their  com- 
plaints, they  charge  on  the  British  government  as  a  crime 
their  doing  a  portion  of  justice  to  the  catholics  of  Canada : 
such  is  the  force  of  prejudice,  religious  instruction,  and  early 
impressions.  The  Bostonians  were  now  indeed  cruelly  treat- 
ed ;  but  they  were  upheld  by  all  the  states  ;  and  the  congress 
was  now  assembled  (the  latter  part  of  September,  1774) : 
Patrick  Henry  first  spoke,  and  gave  a  manly  tone  to  the 
meeting :  events  had  presented  the  subject ;  it  was  not  a 
matter  of  choice.  The  first  question  necessarily  was  :  "  Shall 
we  make  common  cause  with  Boston  V  and  after  a  month's 
delay,  or  of  protracted  discussions,  the  congress  (on  Oct.  6, 
1774)  resolved  upon  supporting  Boston ;  still,  however,  pray- 
ling  a  reconciliation.  In  their  resolutions  they  declare  them- 
selves his  majesty's  loyal  subjects :  they  declare  they  are 
Englishmen,  and  want  only  Englishmen's  rights :  and  they 
especially  demand  to  be  restored  to  the  situation  they  were  in 
in  1763 ;  that  is,  after  the  French  war,  in  which  the  French 
lost  Canada,  and  before  Sir  George  Grenville's  stamp  act. 
After  a  variety  of  useful  resolutions,  and  a  declaration  not  to 
support  the  slave-trade,  the  formation  of  committees,  and  the 
establishment  of  provincial  congresses,  they  dissolved;  but 
/  resolved  to  meet  again  in  May,  1775,  in  Philadelphia.  This 
then  was  not  a  dissolution,  but  an  adjournment  of  the  con- 
gress, which  afterward  declared  for  independence.  At  this 
time  Thomas  Paine  must  have  embarked  from  England ;  for 
he  arrived  at  Philadelphia  in  the  winter  of  1774.  The  local 
congress  formed  two  committees :  one  of  safety,  which  pro- 
vided a  militia  ;  and  the  other  a  committee  of  supplies,  which 
provided  for  them,  and  other  necessary  expenses.  A  new 
parliament  in  England  was  much  divided.  The  king,  in  his 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LEXINGTON.  47 

speech,  was  unfavorable  to  the  colonies :  Lord  Chatham,  and 
the  greatest  men  in  the  ministry,  in  favor  of  them  :  while 
Lord  North  still  attempted  to  intimidate  the  people  by  unjust 
acts.  He  proposed  a  bill  to  restrict  the  people  of  New  Eng- 
land from  fishing ;  and  performed  other  irritating  acts  of 
tyranny.  In  the  colonies  the  military  seized  on  several  col- 
lections of  arms  and  stores  :  but  the  militia  being  sanctioned 
by  the  local  congresses,  retaliated ;  as  these  assemblies  de- 
clared the  supplies  collected  in  forts  necessary  for  the  safety 
of  the  state  :  thus  the  people  of  Province,  in  New  Hampshire, 
took  the  stores  from  Forts  William  and  Maria.  In  Virginia 
Patrick  Henry  trained  a  company.  At  this  period  Paine  had 
arrived,  and  was  engaged  on  various  periodicals  by  Mr.  Aitkin, 
of  Philadelphia ;  in  which  situation  he  necessarily  became 
acquainted  with  the  local  politics ;  while,  from  his  recent 
arrival,  he  knew  also  public  feeling  in  Great  Britain :  and 
thus  he  was  becoming  matured  for  what  he  afterward  so  well 
effected.  Dr.  Franklin  had,  too,  returned  to  the  colonies,  and 
took  the  place  of  another  deputy  in  Congress ;  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson, likewise,  took  the  place  of  another  member :  and  thus 
events  gradually  led  on  the  cause  of  independence  ;  while  not 
a  word  on  the  subject  was  uttered,  even  by  those  who  wished 
it ;  for  they  had  no  hopes  of  seeing  the  people  unanimous, 
and  really  expected  that  any  proposition  of  the  kind  would 
subdivide  those  struggling  against  the  tyranny  of  the  British 
government. 

In  April,  1775,  an  important  event  occurred.  General  Gage  V, 
marched  a  few  troops  to  Concord  to  seize  some  military 
stores.  The  people  knew  his  design,  and  resolved  on  oppo- 
sition. At  Lexington  a  few  militia  were  drawn  up  to  watch 
his  motions,  but  with  strict  orders  not  to  molest  him.  These 
General  Gage  ordered  to  disperse  ;  and  after  repeating  his 
orders,  fired  on  the  body,  and  killed  eight  militiamen.  The 
militia  dispersed  ;  but  some  of  them  returned  the  fire.  The 
British  colonel  (Smith)  now  moved  on  to  Concord ;  during 
which  time  the  militia  assembled  in  great  numbers,  resolved 
to  harass  the  troops  on  their  return.  The  stores  were  re- 
moved from  Concord,  except  a  little  flour,  which  Col.  Smith 
destroyed,  and  then  commenced  a  retreat ;  but  the  British 


48  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

were  met  at  every  pass,  and  annoyed  by  secret  foes  along 
the  whole  road ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  whole  force  of 
nine  hundred  men  would  have  been  destroyed,  had  not  Lord 
Percy  brought  a  re-enforcement  to  his  rescue.  In  Virginia, 
about  the  same  time,  the  king's  troops  seized  on  a  quantity 
of  powder ;  but  being  pursued  by  Patrick  Henry,  who  sud- 
denly raised  five  thousand  men,  the  value  of  the  powder  was 
recovered.  In  Massachusetts  an  army  was  immediately  rais- 
ed, and  the  command  given  to  Putnam,  who  had  fought  in  the 
Canada  war.  This  man,  who  was  one  of  the  best  revolution- 
ary generals,  had  to  lay  by  his  leather  apron  when  he  became 
a  general.  The  provincial  troops  now  seized  on  the  military 
stores  wherever  they  could;  and  thus  the  example  of  the 
king's  troops  afforded  the  first  means  of  getting  supplies.  In 
this  year  Colonel  Ethan  Allen  and  Arnold  not  Imly  took  the 
stores,  but  the  fort  of  Ticonderoga,  by  surprise.  The  British 
at  this  time  were  commanded  by  Howe,  Clinton,  and  Bur- 
goyne.  An  offer  of  pardon  was  made  to  those  who  would  lay 
down  their  arms,  excepting  Samuel  Adams  and  Hancock: 
this  last,  as  a  compliment  to  the  distinction  shown  him  by  the 
British,  was  made  president  of  the  congress :  but  he  was  more 
remarkable  for  his  wealth  and  courage  than  abilities.  On  the 
15th  of  June,  Washington  received  the  chief  command :  he 
declined  a  salary,  and  only  wished  his  expenses  paid. 

On  the  16th  of  June,  General  Putnam  ordered  Colonel  Pres- 
cott  to  take  possession  of  Bunker's  hill,  with  a  thousand  men. 
By  some  mistake  Breed's  hill  was  occupied  instead  ;  and  the 
general  himself  assisted  in  throwing  up  a  breastwork  during 
the  night.  To  dispossess  the  Americans  of  this  post,  the  fa- 
mous battle  of  Bunker's  hill  was  fought ;  which,  though  lost 
by  the  Americans,  was  so  honorable  to  them,  that  it  served 
as  a  watchword  during  the  war,  and  as  a  grateful  monument 
since.  The  men  accustomed  to  the  rifle  repeatedly  repulsed 
the  enemy  by  reserving  their  fire  till  the  approaching  column 
was  very  near,  and  offered  marks  to  be  shot  at.  This  coolness 
was  altogether  unexpected  from  raw  troops ;  and  could  it 
have  been  exercised  in  all  subsequent  engagements,  the  war 
which  succeeded  would  have  been  of  short  duration.  In  the 
summer  of  1775,  an  Irish  regiment  arrived  to  the  assistance 


CAUSES  OP  THE  AMERICAN  REVOLUTION.  49 

of  the  Americans ;  but  as  they  were  destitute  of  both  arms 
and  provisions,  they  were  not  at  first  very  useful  to  the  cause 
they  came  to  serve.  In  July,  Georgia  sent  deputies  to  con-  | 
gress ;  and  in  the  same  month  congress  published  a  declara^  |  ~ 
tion,  earnestly  desiring  a  reconciliation  with  Britain :  they  for- 
warded also  a  most  humble  petition  to  the  king.  The  language  *  - 
of  this  petition  is  more  humiliating  than  either  the  circum- 
stances  required,  or  the  spirit  of  the  people  could  suggest ;  and 
it  was  evidently  drawn  up  to  satisfy  that  class  of  people  who 
always  hope  for  the  best;  and  who,  on  this  occasion,  hoped  to 
obtain  by  begging,  what  others  knew  very  well  could  only  be 
obtained  by  courage.  But  these  good  meaning  men  would 
have  been  lost  to  the  party  had  their  wishes  not  been  attend- 
ed to.  The  action  on  this  petition  was  afterward  of  great  im- 
portance. In  the  meantime  the  congress  did  not  trust  to 
petitioning  :  they  did  something  more  substantial ;  they  train- 
ed riflemen.  In  the  south  twelve  volunteers  travelled  to 
Florida,  and  seized  a  vessel  with  fifteen  thousand  pounds  of 
gunpowder  in  it  j  and  giving  the  captain  bills  on  congress, 
brought  it  off.  In  the  south  Lord  Dunmore  proposed  to  liber- 
ate the  slaves,  and  arm  them  against  their  masters  ,*  but  he 
either  could  not,  or  did  not  effect  much  in  that  way.  Irfthe 
north,  an  expedition  was  undertaken  to  Canada.  St.  John 
and  Montreal  were  taken  by  Montgomery  ;  but  ^Colonel  Allen 
was  made  prisoner,  Montgomery  was  killed,  and  Arnold  had 
his  leg  broken:  the  expedition  was  not  finally  successful. 
Letters  of  marque  were  also  granted.  On  the  other  side, 
Lord  Dunmore  burned  Norfolk,  and  threatened  other  places. 
At  this  period,  late  in  the  year  1775,  Paine  was  engaged  on  V 
his  "  Common  Sense."  About  January,  1776,  accounts  were 
received  that  the  petition  forwarded  to  the  king,  from  which 
so  much  was  hoped  by  a  part  of  the  people,  had  been  reject-  \j 
ed  ;  and  no  answer  was  deigned  in  reply.  The  same  oppor-  V  K 
tunities  brought  accounts  of  foreign  troops  (Hessians)  being 
engaged  to  combat  the  colonies ;  and  that  a  large  armament 
was  coming  out.  Mr.  Penn  had  indeed  been  examined  at  the 
bar  of  the  house  of  commons ;  and  his  examination  proved 
that  the  colonists  had  then  no  thoughts  of  independence. 
They  were  now  operated  on  by  anger  and  fear  :  anger  at  the 

7 


50 


LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 


contemptuous  treatment  of  their  petition;  and  fear  for  the 
consequences  of  resistance,  and  at  the  force  about  to  be 
brought  against  them.  Yet  none  talked  of  independence,  but 
a  few  of  no  weight  in  society  ;  as  none  of  the  leaders  would 
risk  their  popularity  in  supporting  what  appeared  hopeless : 
yet  Jefferson,  Franklin,  Patrick  Henry,  and  others,  evidently 
wished  independence :  but  this  could  only  be  supported  by 
the  unanimity  of  the  body  of  the  people ;  and  these  did  not 
dare  to  dream  of  it.  At  this  period  of  excitement,  anger,  and 
fear,  Paine  published  his  "  Common  Sense ;"  and  boldly  pro- 
posed independence,  as  the  best  means  to  get  out  of  the  diffi- 
culties into  which  they  had  now  plunged  ;  and  as  an  object 
alone  worth  fighting  for.  This  pamphlet  effected  wonders  : 
it  overcame  difficulties  apparently  insurmountable,  for  it  re- 
moved prejudices,  generally  a  hopeless  task :  it  convinced 
the  people  that  the  British  constitution  was  not  the  best  that 
could  be,  and  that  a  government  of  kings,  lords,  and  commons, 
light  not  be  the  essence  of  all  that  is  excellent  in  each ;  but 
that  the  union  might  retain  much  that  was  bad  in  each  :f  he 
satisfied  the  people  of  the  disadvantages  of  carrying  on 
war  with  a  government  whose  authority  was  acknowledged  : 
and  ne  opened  to  them  the  resources  within  their  power,  and 
hinted  at  the  possibility  of  getting  foreign  help  as  an  indepen- 
dent nation.  He  produced,  what  his  writings  generally  did 
produce,  a  change  of  opinion.  The  pamphlet  was  read  from 
north  to  south  ;  everybody  talked  about  it ;  and  each  seemed 
surprised  that  he  had  not  had  the  same  thoughts,  so  clear  did 
the  propositions  appear  as  explained  in  "Common  Sense." 
The  boldness  of  the  language,  indeed,  alarmed  those  who  are 
in  the  habit  of  understanding  for  other  people :  they  had  no 
objection  to  it  themselves,  but  they  thought  the  people  not 
yet  prepared  for  such  opinions ;  and  some  ludicrous  scenes 
occurred.  The  people,  indeed,  were  not  prepared :  they  read 
first  from  curiosity,  and  then  became  convinced.}  Paine  abso- 
lutely produced  the  events  he  sought.  He  wanted  a  declara- 
tion of  independence,  and  he  produced  the  wish  for  it. \  Clio 
Rickman  observes,  in  a  note  on  Cheetham's  life  of  Paine, 
that— 


EFFECTS  OF  "  COMMON  SENSE."  51 

"  When  *  Common  Sense'  arrived  at  Albany  the  convention 
of  New  York  was  in  session  :  General  Scott,  a  leading  mem- 
ber, alarmed  at  the  boldness  and  novelty  of  its  arguments, 
mentioned  his  fears  to  several  of  his  distinguished  colleagues, 
and  suggested  a  private  meeting  in  the  evening  for  the  purpose 
of  writing  an  answer.  They  accordingly  met,  and  Mr. 
M'Kesson  read  the  pamphlet  through.  At  first  it  was  deemed 
both  necessary  and  expedient  to  answer  it  immediately,  but 
casting  about  for  the  necessary  arguments  they  concluded  to 
adjourn  and  meet  again.  In  a  few  evenings  they  assembled, 
but  so  rapid  was  the  change  of  opinion  in  the  colonies  at 
large  in  favor  of  independence,  that  they  ultimately  agreed 
not  to  oppose  it." 


When  Mr.  Paine  saw  the  avidity  with  which  his  book  was 
read,  as  he  had  not  published  for  interest  but  principle,  he 
generously  gave  the  copyright  to  every  state.  His  own  ob- 
servations  on  the  subject  are  these  :  — 

"  Politics  and  self-interest  have  been  so  uniformly  connect- 
ed that  the  world  from  being  so  often  deceived  has  a  right  to 
be  suspicious  of  public  characters.  But  with  regard  to  my- 
self, I  am  perfectly  easy  on  this  head.  I  did  not  at  my  first 
setting  out  in  public  life,  nearly  seventeen  years  ago,  turn  my 
thoughts  to  subjects  of  government  from  motives  of  interest  ; 
and  my  conduct  from  that  moment  to  this  proves  the  fact.  I 
saw  an  opportunity  in  which  I  thought  I  could  do  some  good,  . 
and  I  followed  exactly  what  my  heart  dictated.  I  neither  read  \  S 
books,  nor  studied  other  people's  opinions  —  I  thought  for 
myself.  The  case  was  this  :  — 

During  the  suspension  of  the  old  government  in  America, 
both  prior  to  and  at  the  breaking  ont  of  hostilities,  I  was 
struck  with  the  order  and  decorum  with  which  everything 
was  conducted,  and  impressed  with  the  idea  that  a  little  more 
than  what  society  naturally  performed  was  all  the  government 
that  was  necessary.  On  these  principles  I  published  the  pam- 
phlet '  Common  Sense.' 

The  success  it  met  with  was  beyond  anything  since  the  in- 
vention of  printing.  I  gave  the  copyright  up  to  every  state 
in  the  Union,  and  the  demand  run  to  not  less  than  one  hun- 
dred thousand  copies,  and  I  continued  the  subject  under  the 
title  of  *  American  Crisis,'  till  the  complete  establishment  of 
the  American  revolution.  ' 

The  disinterested  conduct  of  Mr.  Paine,  considering  the 
enormous  quantity  that  was  sold,  is  a  remarkable  trait  in  his 
character,  and  one  which  should  excite  in  the  breast  of  every 


52  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

American  citizen  a  lively  sense  of  gratitude.  Paine,  at  this 
time,  was  yet  a  poor  man.  It  would  have  been  perfectly  hon- 
orable in  him  to  take  the  ordinary  profit.  That  profit  on 
"  Common  Sense"  alone  must  have  been  enormously  large,  and 
a  large  profit  could  have  been  made  on  each  number  of  the  "Cri- 
sis;" and  Paine,  without  the  slightest  imputation  on  his  char- 
acter, could  have  realized  a  handsome  fortune,  while  he  ren- 
dered a  most  important  service  to  his  adopted  country.  We 
know  of  no  example  of  the  kind  ;  some  rich  men  publish  for 
principle,  but  we  know  of  no  poor  man,  who  had  the  tempta* 
tion  of  popularity  to  anything  like  the  extent  which  Mr. 
Paine  enjoyed  by  this  publication,  who  gave  to  the  public  his 
copyright.  He  stands,  therefore,  alone,  as  a  remarkable  in- 
stance of  great  generosity  and  public  spirit.  Mr.  Paine  was 
never  an  extravagant  man.  While  in  public  life,  and  in  the 
enjoyment  of  a  moderate  competency,  he  lived  like  a  gentle- 
man in  this  country,  in  England,  and  in  France  :  but  when  in 
retirement,  both  in  France  and  in  this  country,  at  a  late  peri- 
od of  his  life,  when  many  of  his  former  friends  avoided  an 
intimacy  for  fear  of  the  unpopularity  of  his  religious  opinions, 
he  then  evidently  became  careless  of  appearances,  and,  though 
always  Well  clothed,  comfortably  lodged,  and  possessed  of  the 
comforts  of  life,  yet,  in  his  old  age,  his  style  of  living  was 
mean.  Yet  what  can  we  say  of  the  meanness  of  a  man,  who 
thus  nobly  gives  up  thousands,  glorying  in  the  act,  and  per- 
severing in  it,  in  all  his  successive  political  and  theological 
publications  1  The  only  answer  is  that  he  had  not  an  ex- 
travagant taste,  and  this  enabled  him  to  be  generous  ;  while 
this  taste,  at  variance  with  the  taste  of  others  in  equal  cir- 
cumstances, will  necessarily  appear  parsimonious.  Had 
Paine  been  less  parsimonious,  he  would  probably  have  been 
less  generous.  His  capability  of  living  on  a  little,  evidently 
suggested  the  idea  that  great  riches  were  unnecessary  in  a 
private  situation. 

"  The  time  was  now  arrived,"  says  Sherwin,  "  when  our 
author  was  to  take  an  active  as  well  as  a  decisive  part  in  pub- 
lic affairs.  The  declaration  of  independence  had  removed 
the  scene  of  political  warfare  from  the  closet  to  the  camp, 
and  it  was  now  become  necessary  to  try  the  strength  of  public 


PAINE'S  "COMMON  SENSE."  53 

patriotism  by  bringing  it  into  the  field  of  military  operations. 
Warlike  preparations  were  immediately  set  on  foot  by  the 
Americans.  Many  individuals  of  respectability  volunteered 
their  services  in  support  of  their  country's  freedom,  and 
among  the  foremost  of  them  was  Mr.  Paine.  In  this  capaci- 
ty he  was  introduced  to  the  friendship  of  the  Marquis  de  la 
Fayette,  who  was  likewise  serving  as  a  volunteer  in  the  Amer- 
ican army.  The  officers  treated  our  author  with  every  possi- 
ble mark  of  respect ;  at  their  tables  he  was  hailed  as  a  wel- 
come guest,  and  General  Washington  himself  neglected  no 
opportunity  of  showing  the  high  opinion  he  entertained  of 
his  talents  and  integrity." 

Cheetham,  in  spite  of  his  prejudices,  gives  the  following 
brief  account  of  Paine's  services  at  this  time : — 

"  When  c  Common  Sense'  was  written,  the  friends  of  inde- 
pendence were  not  republicans.  Paine's  invectives  against 
monarchy  were  intended  against  the  monarchy  of  England, 
rather  than  against  monarchy  in  general,  and  they  were  pop- 
ular in  the  degree  to  which  the  measures  and  designs  of  the 
British  cabinet  were  odious.  The  question,  when  no  alterna- 
tive but  colonial  vassalage  or  national  independence  presented 
itself,  was  one  merely  of  independence,  for,  as  Mr.  Adams 
truly  remarked,  the  colonists  had  no  wish  but  for  the  '  imme- 
morial liberties  of  their  ancestors.'  To  this  may  be  added 
the  observation  of  Dr.  Franklin,  that  they  could  not  even 
hope  for  a  government  under  which  they  could  enjoy  liberties 
more  precious. 

On  the  fourth  of  July,  1776,  congress  declared  the  colonies 
'free  and  independent  states,' which  was  as  soon  after  the 
publication  of  '  Common  Sense,'  Paine  remarks,  '  as  the  work 
could  spread  through  such  an  extensive  country.' 

Paine  now  accompanied  the  army  of  independence  as  a  sort 
of  itinerant  writer,  of  which  his  pen  was  an  appendage  almost 
as  necessary  and  formidable  as  its  cannon.  Having  no  prop- 
erty, he  fared  as  the  army  fared,  and  at  the  same  expense,  but 
to  what  mess  he  was  attached  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn, 
although,  from  what  I  hear  and  know,  it  must,  I  think,  though 
he  was  sometimes  admitted  into  higher  company,  have  been 
a  subaltern  one.  When  the  colonists  drooped  he  revived 
them  with  a  '  Crisis.'  The  first  of  these  numbers  he  publish- 
ed early  in  December,  1776.  The  object  of  it  was  good,  the 
method  excellent,  and  the  language  suited  to  the  depressed 
spirits  of  the  army,  of  public  bodies,  and  of  private  citizens, 
cheering.  Washington,  defeated  on  Long  Island,  had  retreat- 
ed to  New  York,  and  been  driven  with  great  loss  from  Forts 
Washington  and  Lee.  The  gallant  little  army,  overwhelmed 


54.  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

with  a  rapid  succession  of  misfortunes,  was  dwindling  away, 
and  all  seemed  to  be  over  with  the  cause,  when  scarcely  a 
blow  had  been  struck.  *  These,'  said  the  'Crisis,'  'are  the 
times  that  try  men's  souls.  The  summer  soldier  and  the  sun- 
shine patriot  will,  in  this  crisis,  shrink  from  the  service  of  his 
country;  but  he  that  stands  it  NOW,  deserves  the  love  and 
thanks  of  man  and  woman.  Tyranny,  like  hell,  is  not  easily 
conquered ;  yet  we  have  this  consolation  with  us,  that  the 
harder  the  conflict  the  more  glorious  the  triumph :  what  we 
obtain  too  cheap  we  esteem  too  lightly.' 

The  number  was  read  in  the  camp,  to  every  corporal's 
guard,  and  in  the  army  and  out  of  it  had  more  than  the  in- 
tended effect.  The  convention  of  New  York,  reduced  by 
dispersion  occasioned  by  alarm,  to  nine  members,  was  rallied 
and  reanimated.  Militiamen,  who,  already  tired  of  the  war, 
were  straggling  from  the  army,  returned.  Hope  succeeded 
to  despair,  cheerfulness  to  gloom,  and  firmness  to  irresolution. 
To  the  confidence  which  it  inspired  may  be  attributed  much 
of  the  brilliant  little  affair  which  in  the  same  month  followed 
at  Trenton." 

The  impression  which  this  first  number  of  the  "  Crisis"  made 
on  the  public  mind,  is  evident  by  the  very  first  sentence  being 
handed  down  already  to  two  generations,  as  a  sort  of  watch- 
word :  "  These  are  the  times  that  try  men's  souls  j"  yet  the 
dastardly  enmity  to  Paine  has  suppressed  the  author.  Thou- 
sands use  this  expression,  while  individuals  only  know  the 
origin  of  it.  Yet  the  fact  of  this  expression  being  thus  hand- 
ed down  even  in  spite  of  the  personal  prejudices  against  the 
man,  clearly  shows  the  impression  this  well-timed  pamphlet 
must  have  made  on  the  nation.  The  extract  we  have  given 
scarcely  shows  the  facts  :  the  American  army  was  dispirited  • 
they  were  even  brought  into  contempt  by  their  unsoldierlike 
appearance  in  comparison  to  the  well-clothed,  well-fed  regu- 
lars, preceded  by  elegant  bands  of  music.  The  militia  whose 
time  was  up  were  returning  in  disgust  j  the  army  appeared 
disbanded.  It  was  Paine's  task  to  reinstate  it,  to  place  honor 
where  it  was  deserved,  and  to  convert  the  despairing,  degra- 
ded, because  despised  soldier,  into  a  warm  patriot,  and  to  con- 
vert a  feeling  of  scorn  into  one  of  encouragement ;  and  this 
task  Paine  admirably  performed. 

"  The  affair  of  Trenton  elevating  American  confidence,"  as 
Cheetham  remarks,  "  and  breathing  caution  into  the  British 


SECRETARY  TO  THE  FOREIGN  DEPARTMENT.  55 

army,  Paine,  in  January,  1777,  congratulated  the  c  free  and  in- 
dependent states' in  a  second  number  of  the 'Crisis.'  It  is 
addressed  to  Lord  Howe,  and  ridicules  his  proclamation, 
*  commanding  all  congresses,  committees,  &c.,  to  desist  and 
cease  from  their  treasonable  doings.'  Against  the  king  and 
his  purposes,  it  is  full  of  invective,  but  of  a  sort  rather  popu- 
lar than  exquisite.  Fortunately  for  the  United  States  the  Brit- 
ish commander-in-chief  dealt  more  in  impotent  proclamations 
than  in  the  efficacy  of  arms.  Washington's  retreat  to  Tren- 
ton was  a  compulsive  one.  He  had  not  from  choice  and  by 
military  skill  drawn  the  Hessians  into  the  toil  in  which  they 
were  ensnared.  I  do  not  believe  that  even  a  number  of  the 
'Crisis'  could  have  saved  the  American  army  and  cause  from 
annihilation,  if  Howe  had  been  an  active  and  persevering,  an 
enlightened  and  energetic  commander.  Washington's  pa- 
tience and  care,  his  admirable  coolness  and  prudence,  although 
often,  in  the  course  of  the  war,  provoked  to  battle  by  a  thou- 
sand irritating  circumstances,  by  internal  faction,  and  by 
British  sneers,  saved  America  to  freedom ;  while  the  idle  dis- 
sipation of  Howe,  his  devotion  to  licentious  pleasures,  his  un- 
martial  spirit  and  conduct,  lost  it  to  the  crown. 

On  the  nineteenth  of  April,  1777,  he  published,  at  Philadel- 
phia, the  third  number  of  the  '/Crisis.'  As  there  had  been  no 
military  operations  from  the  capture  of  the  Hessians  at  Trenton, 
it  was  devoted  to  an  examination  of  occurrences  since  the  dec- 
laration of  independence,  and  to  a  repetition  of  the  arguments 
which  he  had  employed  in  '  Common  Sense'  in  favor  of  inde- 
pendence." 

At  this  time,  or  rather  on  the  17th  of  April,  Mr.  Paine  was  \  / 
elected  by  congress  secretary  to  the  committee  for  foreign 
affairs.  No  man  could  be  more  suitable  for  this  situation : 
and  ably  did  he  serve  it.  The  duties  of  his  office  correspond-  j 
ed  with  that  of  the  English  secretary  for  foreign  affairs.  He 
stood  in  the  same  relation  to  the  committee  as  that  officer 
did  to  the  cabinet.  All  foreign  communications  were  address- 
ed to  Mr.  Paine,  and  by  him  perused,  and  then  laid  before  the 
committee  by  whose  instructions  he  acted.  In  his  foreign 
communications  he  assumed  the  same  title  which  the  British 
minister  did  who  performed  the  same  task.  On  this  subject 
Cheetham  is  very  spiteful,  and  supposes  he  did  so  from  van- 
ity ;  and  insidiously  mentions  the  amount  of  the  paltry  salary 
which  Mr.  Paine  received,  as  a  sort  of  presumptuous  evidence 
that  he  ought  not,  with  such  a  salary,  to  call  himself  "  secre- 
tary for  foreign  affairs."  But  the  fact  is,  it  was  policy  in 


56  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

Mr.  Paine  to  do  so  :  he  wrote  then  in  the  style  of  an  equal, 
and  assumed  a  proper  dignity  useful  to  his  adopted  country. 

In  the  early  part  of  September,  1777,  Sir  William  Howe  and 
Cornwallis  were  pushing  on  the  line  of  the  Brandywine  tow- 
ard Philadelphia ;  and  to  satisfy  the  public  mind,  Washing- 
ton was  obliged  to  risk  a  battle.  He  did  so,  and  lost  the 
battle ;  but  being  ably  assisted  by  La  Fayette,  and  other  French 
and  Polish  officers,  he  made  good  his  retreat,  without  any 
very  serious  injury.  On  this  occasion  Paine  published  his 
fourth  "  Crisis ;"  short,  but  admirably  adapted  to  the  purpose  ; 
and  the  morale  or  confidence  of  the  army  increased,  so  that, 
could  they  have  fought  the  battle  over  again,  the  soldiers 
would  have  done  it. 

While  Washington  was  engaged  with  Howe  and  Cornwallis 
near  Philadelphia,  General  Gates  was  watching  the  movements 
of  Burgoyne,  descending  the  Hudson ;  and  fell  upon  him  at 
Saratoga,  where  the  militia  simultaneously  joined  him ;  and 
Burgoyne,  weakened  by  his  march,  and  disappointed  in  the 
junction  of  the  New  York  army  with  him  in  this  neighborhood, 
was  surrounded,  and  obliged  to  surrender.  Howe,  aware  of 
this,  and  not  being  able  to  bring  Washington  to  a  general  en- 
gagement, became  predatory  in  his  warfare  :  on  which  occa- 
sion Paine  brought  out  his  fifth  "  Crisis  j"  which,  as  Sherwin 
j£V  J>  remarks — 

(J  ''  Was  published  at  Lancaster,  in  Pennsylvania,  March,  1778. 

It  consists  of  a  letter  addressed  to  General  Sir  William  Howe, 
and  an  'Address  to  the  Inhabitants  of  America.'  The  advantages 
gained  by  General  Howe  he  considers  of  so  trifling  a  nature, 
as  rather  to  prove  the  impotence  of  his  troops,  than  to  show 
their  ability  to  prosecute  their  object.  He  cites  the  retreat  of 
the  British  as  a  confirmation  of  thjs  conclusion.  He  ridicules, 
with  considerable  force,  the  vanity  of  attaching  importance  to 
titles,  and  the  pretensions  which  Sir  William  had  set  forth  to 
the  esteem  of  the  Americans.  He  is  very  severe  on  the  mean 
and  cowardly  conduct  of  Sir  William  in  distributing  forged 
continental  bills.  If  this  charge  were  true,  and  the  evidence 
given  is  too  conclusive  to  admit  of  its  being  doubted,  it  is  a 
most  disgraceful  circumstance  to  those  employed  in  carrying 
on  the  war.*  In  the  conduct  of  an  army  there  are  certain 

*  The  only  parallel  to  this  proceeding  that  I  have  ever  heard  of,  is  the  con- 
duct of  Pitt  toward  the  French  in  1795.  It  has  been  said  that  Mr.  Pitt  was  the 
inventor  of  this  cowardly  species  of  warfare ;  but  this  the  reader  will  perceive  to 


.  FORGED  CONTINENTAL  MONEY.  57 

acts  which  we  consider  dishonorable,  and  which  a  commander 
who  values  his  character  will  always  he  careful  to  prevent. 
These  are  not  laid  down  by  any  law  ;  because,  when  countries 
are  at  war  with  each  other,  law  is  totally  out  of  the  question  : 
they  depend  on  the  disposition  of  a  general  and  the  discipline 
of  his  troops.  But  of  all  the  low,  drivelling  practices  that 
were  ever  resorted  to  by  an  army  to  distress  a  people  with 
whom  it  was  at  war,  the  project  of  forging  their  bills  is  the 
most  despicable.  It  is  in  a  moral  sense  what  assassination  is 
in  a  physical  sense  5  and  ought  never  to  be  resorted  to  except 
as  a  measure  of  retaliation.  It  is,  however,  impossible  to  rep- 
robate the  practice  in  stronger  terms  than  Paine  has  done  in 
the  publication  before  us.  '  You,  sir,'  says  he,  in  the  address 
to  Sir  William,  '  have  abetted  and  patronised  the  forging  and 
uttering  counterfeit  continental  bills.  In  the  same  New  York 
newspapers  in  which  your  own  proclamation  under  your  mas- 
ter's authority  was  published,  offering  or  pretending  to  offer 
pardon  and  protection  to  the  inhabitants  of  these  states,  there 
were  repeated  advertisements  of  counterfeit  money  for  sale  ; 
and  persons  who  have  come  officially  from  you,  and  under 
sanction  of  your  flag,  have  been  taken  up  in  attempting  to  put 
them  off.  A  conduct  so  basely  mean  in  a  public  character  is 
without  precedent  or  pretence.  Every  nation  on  earth, 
whether  friends  or  enemies,  will  join  in  condemning  you.  It 
is  an  incendiary  war  upon  society,  which  nothing  can  excuse 
or  palliate  :  an  improvement  upon  beggarly  villany ;  and 
shows  an  inbred  wretchedness  of  heart,  made  up  between  the 
venomous  malignity  of  a  serpent,  and  the  spiteful  imbecility 
of  an  inferior  reptile.'  The  severity  of  these  reproaches  finds 
an  apology  in  the  circumstances  of  the  case  ;  for  though  the 
language  is  harsh,  it  is  nevertheless  just  ;  and  the  fault  lies 
with  the  person  who  deserves,  not  with  him  who  applies  it. 

There,  perhaps,  is  not  any  species  of  composition  which,  in 
a  few  years,  becomes  so  dry  and  insipid  as  disquisitions  upon 
the  politics  of  the  day ;  and  those  writers  who  have  been  able 
to  give  to  such  a  subject  a  permanent  interest,  must  be  allow- 
ed to  possess  talents  of  a  superior  description.  The  ability 
displayed  by  Paine  in  the  productions  before  us,  has  conferred 
a  lasting  importance  on  events  which,  passing  through  the  icy 
medium  of  distant  history,  would  have  met  with  but  little 
attention.  He  makes  us  feel  as  well  as  see  the  objects  he  is 
writing  upon ;  and  though  in  some  instances  he  does  not  at-  \ 
tempt  to  give  his  language  that  high  polish  of  which  it  is  sus- 
ceptible, yet  we  soon  discover  the  intrinsic  value  of  his  senti- 
ments, and  we  respect  the  rough  exterior  as  an  evidence  of  the 

be  an  unfounded  supposition.  Not  that  I  wish  to  deprive  Mr.  Pitt  of  any  of  the 
infamy  of  such  an  expedient.  I  merely  mention  it  to  show,  that  in  one  of  his 
most  dishonorable  schemes  he  was  no  more  than  a  common  imitator. 

8 


58  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

author's  sincerity,  while  a  multitude  of  graces  would  only 
tend  to  bring  his  motives  into  suspicion. 

The  subsequent  part  of  the  letter  to  General  Howe  discov- 
ers a  fund  of  thought,  penetration,  and  feeling.  Though  I 
intend  to  be  as  brief  as  possible  in  making  extracts  from  works 
which  cannot  be  properly  appreciated  unless  they  are  perused 
entire,  yet  the  following  is  so  prophetically  true,  that  I  can- 
not resist  the  temptation  of  quoting  it : — 

*  There  is  something  in  meanness  which  excites  a  species 
of  resentment  that  never  subsides ;  and  something  in  cruelty 
which  stirs  up  the  heart  to  the  highest  agony  of  human  hatred. 
Britain  has  filled  up  both  these  characters  till  no  addition  can 
be  made,  and  hath  not  reputation  left  with  us  to  obtain  credit 
for  the  slightest  promise.  The  will  of  God  hath  parted  us  ; 
and  the  deed  is  registered  for  eternity.  When  she  shall  be  a 
spot  scarcely  visible  among  nations,  America  shall  flourish,  the 
favorite  of  Heaven,  and  the  friend  of  mankind.' 

If  the  implicit  supporters  of  arbitrary  power  and  orthodox 
despotism  will  not  admit  Paine  to  have  prophesied  from  in- 
spiration, it  is  to  be  hoped  they  will  allow  him  to  possess  the 
merit  of  sound  judgment  and  rational  reflection.  At  all  events, 
his  calumniators  cannot  deny  that  the  foregoing  prediction  is 
fast  verging  toward  its  fulfilment.  Our  author  concludes 
No.  V.  with  an  address  to  the  inhabitants  of  America.  In  this 
he  exhorts  them  to  fresh  perseverance  ;  and,  after  an  elaborate 
description  of  the  situation  of  the  respective  armies,  he  closes 
by  proposing  a  plan  for  recruiting  the  American  forces. 

The  sixth  number  of  the  '  Crisis'  was  published  at  Philadel- 
phia, in  October,  1778.  The  subject  is  a  letter  to  the  earl  of 
Carlisle,  General  Clinton,  and  William  Eden,  Esq.,  British 
commissioners  at  New  York.  These  gentlemen,  in  opposition 
to  all  the  dictates  of  reason  and  experience,  had  issued  a 
proclamation,  calling  upon  the  rebellious  Americans  to  renew 
their  allegiance  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  whom  they  pom- 
pously described  as  the  'rightful  sovereign'  of  America.  The 
treaty  which  had  recently  been  concluded  between  America 
and  France,  appears  to  have  been  the  principal  cause  of  this 
fresh  display  of  folly.  The  pains  which  the  poor  commis- 
sioners were  at  to  make  themselves  and  their  royal  master 
appear  ridiculous,  were  in  strict  conformity  with  the  blunder- 
ing policy  which  had  given  rise  to  their  appointment ;  and 
their  promises  and  pardons,  their  flattery  and  threats,  were 
alike  unavailing.  The  government  of  England,  instead  of 
being  looked  upon  as  an  affectionate  parent,  was  now  regard- 
ed as  an  unnatural  monster,  who  had  sought  to  strangle  her 
infant  offspring.  Even  those  who  at  first  had  been  the  most 
zealous  friends  of  reconciliation,  were  by  this  time  deprived 
of  all  their  long-cherished  hopes  ;  for  they  clearly  saw  that  a 


THE  CRISIS — SILAS  DEANE. 


59 


reunion  with  the  British  government  would  be  the  certain 
forerunner  of  the  most  abject  slavery.  The  pretensions  and 
offers  of  the  commissioners  were,  therefore,  either  spurned  as 
an  insult  to  the  people,  or  ridiculed  as  a  silly  display  of  ima- 
ginary power.  And  when  to  this  state  of  things  we  add  the 
previous  capture  of  General  Burgoyne,  their  situation  becomes 
truly  pitiable.  With  such  materials  to  work  upon,  it  is  im- 
possible that  a  man  of  any  ability  would  write  ill ;  and  we 
therefore  need  not  wonder  that  they  furnished  Paine  with  the 
groundwork  of  one  of  the  best  numbers  of  the  '  Crisis.'  As 
an  analysis  of  this  production  would  not  tend  in  any  degree 
to  do  justice  to  the  writer's  merits,  I  shall  avoid  making  ex- 
tracts from  this  as  well  as  the  subsequent  numbers ;  recom- 
mending to  the  reader  an  attentive  perusal  of  the  whole,  as 
the  only  mode  of  enabling  himself  to  appreciate  the  talents, 
perseverance,  and  patriotism  of  the  author. 

The  seventh  number  of  the  '  Crisis'  was  published  at  Phila- 
delphia, Nov.  21,  1778.  It  consists  of  a  letter  to  the  people 
of  England.  The  object  of  this  number  appears  to  have  dif- 
fered in  some  degree  from  that  of  its  immediate  predecessor : 
the  one  being  written  for  the  purpose  of  convincing  the  gov- 
ernment, and  the  other  of  proving  to  the  people  the  improba- 
bility of  subduing  America.  The  delusive  hopes  with  which 
the  ministry  had  amused  the  nation,  the  disgrace  which  must 
attend  the  hitherto  invincible  armies  of  England,  and  the 
wickedness  of  any  man  in  even  wishing  those  armies  to  be 
successful,  are  exposed  with  an  ability  which  must  have  been 
most  severely  felt  by  the  enemies,  and  warmly  applauded  by 
the  friends  of  independence.  The  number  likewise  contains 
some  excellent  reflections  on  the  subject  of  national  honor 
and  the  mischievous  effects  of  national  vanity. 

In  January,  1779,  our  author  resigned  his  situation  of  sec- 
retary for  foreign  affairs.  This  resignation  was  in  conse- 
quence of  a  disagreement  which  had  taken  place  between  the 
congress  and  Mr.  Paine,  respecting  a  person  of  the  name  of 
Silas  Deane.  In  the  early  part  of  the  war,  it  appears  that  this 
man  had  been  employed  by  the  committee  for  foreign  affairs 
as  an  agent  in  France,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  supplies, 
either  as  a  loan  from  the  French  government,  or,  if  he  failed 
in  this,  to  purchase  them  as  regular  merchandise.  Without 
waiting  the  issue  of  his  separate  mission,  he  was  soon  after 
nominated  with  Dr.  Franklin  and  Mr.  Lee,  who  proceeded 
to  the  court  of  Louis  for  the  same  purpose.  The  French 
monarch,  more  perhaps  from  his  hostility  to  the  English  gov- 
ernment, than  from  any  attachment  to  the  American  cause, 
gladly  acceded  to  the  request ;  and  the  supplies  were  imme- 
diately furnished  from  the  king's  arsenal.  As  France  was 
then  to  all  appearance  upon  amicable  terms  with  England,  a 
pledge  was  given  by  the  American  commissioners  that  the 


60  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

grant  should  remain  a  secret.  The  supplies  were  accordingly 
shipped  in  the  name  of  a  Mr.  Beaumarchais,  and  consigned  to 
an  imaginary  house  in  the  United  States.  Deane,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  secresy  which  had  been  promised  by  the  com- 
missioners, presented  a  claim  for  compensation  in  behalf  of 
himself  and  Beaumarchais  j  thinking,  perhaps,  that  the  audit- 
ing committee  would  prefer  a  compliance  with  his  fraudulent 
demand,  rather  than  expose  their  ally,  the  king  of  France,  to 
a  rupture  with  England.  At  first  there  appeared  an  inclina- 
tion to  comply  with  his  request ;  and  Mr.  Paine,  perceiving 
this,  and  knowing  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  resolved  on 
laying  the  transaction  before  the  public.  He  accordingly 
wrote  for  the  newspapers  several  essays,  under  the  title  of 
1  Common  Sense  to  the  Public  on  Mr.  Deane's  Affairs.'  In 
these  he  exposed,  without  ceremony,  the  dishonest  designs  of 
Deane.  The  business,  in  consequence,  soon  became  a  subject 
of  general  conversation :  the  demand  was  rejected  by  the 
auditing  committee,  and  Deane  himself  soon  afterward  ab- 
sconded to  England. 

For  this  piece  of  service  to  the  Americans  our  author  was 
thanked  and  applauded  by  the  body  of  the  people  ;  but  by  this 
time  a  party  had  begun  to  form  itself,  whose  principles,  if  not 
the  reverse  of  independence,  were  the  reverse  of  republicanism. 
These  men,  as  individuals,  had  long  envied  the  popularity  of 
Mr.  Paine,  but  from  their  want  of  means  to  check  or  control 
it,  they  had  hitherto  remained  silent.  An  opportunity  was  now 
offered  for  venting  their  spleen.  Mr.  Paine,  in  expressing  his 
V  indignation  against  the  claims  of  Mr.  Deane,  had  mentioned 
one  or  two  circumstances  that  had  come  to  his  knowledge  in 
consequence  of  his  office  ;  a  plan  was  immediately  formed  for 
depriving  him  of  his  situation  ;  and,  accordingly,  a  motion 
was  made  by  one  of  the  members  for  an  order  to  bring  him 
before  the  congress.  Mr.  Paine  readily  attended ;  and  on 
being  asked  whether  the  articles  in  question  were  written  by 
him,  he  replied  that  they  were.  He  was  then  directed  to 
withdraw.  As  soon  as  he  had  left  the  house,  a  member  arose 
and  moved:  'That  Thomas  Paine  be  discharged  from  the 
office  of  secretary  to  the  committee  for  foreign  affairs ;'  but 
the  motion  was  lost  upon  a  division.  Mr.  Paine  then  wrote 
to  congress,  requesting  that  he  might  be  heard  in  his  defence, 
and  Mr.  Laurens  made  a  motion  for  that  purpose,  which  was 
negatived.  The  next  day  he  sent  in  his  resignation,  conclu- 
ding with  these  words :  '  As  I  cannot,  consistently  with  my 
character  as  a  freeman,  submit  to  be  censured  unheard;  there- 
fore, to  preserve  that  character  and  maintain  that  right,  I  think 
it  my  duty  to  resign  the  office  of  secretary  to  the  committee 
for  foreign  affairs  ;  and  I  do  hereby  resign  the  same.' 

This  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  congress  may,  in  some  de- 
gree, be  attributed  to  a  desire  to  quiet  the  fears  of  the  French 


CLERK  TO  PENNSYLVANIA  LEGISLATURE.  61 

ambassador,  who  had  become  very  dissatisfied  in  consequence 
of  its  being  known  to  the  world  that  the  supplies  were  a  pres- 
ent from  his  master.  To  silence  his  apprehensions,  and  pre- 
serve the  friendship  of  the  French  court,  they  treated  Paine 
with  ingratitude.  This  they  acknowledged  at  a  future  period 
by  a  grant ;  of  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to.  speak  in  its 
proper  place. 

Our  author  was  now  deprived  of  the  means  of  obtaining  a 
livelihood ;  and  not  being  disposed  to  render  his  literary 
labors  subservient  to  his  personal  wants,  he  engaged  himself 
as  clerk  to  Mr.  Biddle,  an  attorney  at  Philadelphia. 

Mr.  Paine's  dispute  with  the  congress  produced  no  change 
in  his  patriotism.  On  every  occasion  he  continued  to  display 
the  same  degree  of  independence  and  resolution  which  had 
produced  his  first  animated  efforts  in  favor  of  the  republican 
cause.  Neither  personal  altercation,  nor  pecuniary  embar- 
rassments, had  any  effect  upon  his  principles.  He  had  enlisted 
himself  as  a  volunteer  in  the  American  cause  ;  and  he  vindi- 
cated her  rights  under  every  change  of  circumstance,  with  the 
unabated  ardor  of  a  freeman. 

Soon  after  the  resignation  of  his  secretaryship,  our  author 
was  chosen  clerk  of  the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania.  This  V 
appointment  is  a  proof  that,  though  he  had  some  enemies,  he 
had  many  friends ;  and  that  the  insidious  insinuations  of  the 
former  had  not  been  enabled  to  weaken  the  attachment  of  the 
latter. 

In  March,  1780,  Mr.  Paine  published  the  eighth  number  of 
the  *  Crisis.'  The  subject  of  this  is  a  spf.nnd  nddrpssf  |Q  the, 
people  of  England.  It  is  written  much  in  the  same  style  as 
m^'OTTe~wliich  preceded  it.  From  all  that  had  taken  place,  it 
was  apparent  that  America  was  beyond  the  reach  of  conquest ; 
and  seeing  this,  he  very  properly  asks  the  English  people 
what  their  motive  was  in  protracting  a  contest  which  appear- 
ed to  be  fraught  with  nothing  but  self-destruction.  He  dwells 
with  great  emphasis  on  the  calamities  of  war  ;  and  represents 
the  people  of  England  as  ignorant  of  any  of  its  effects,  except 
that  of  taxation.  He  could  not  have  had  a  better  opportunity 
of  depicting  the  miseries  of  military  contention  ;  and  the  por- 
trait he  has  drawn  is  as  natural  as  life. 

In  June  following,  he  published  at  Philadelphia  the  ninth 
number  of  the  '  Crisis.'  This  seems  to  have  been  written  for  ./*• 
the  purpose  of  consoling  the  Americans  for  the  loss  of  Charles- 
town,  which  had  recently  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  British. 
He  reasons  with  considerable  force  and  ingenuity  on  the  in- 
significance of  such  a  conquest ;  and  consoles  his  readers  by 
reflecting  that  similar  misfortunes  were  unavoidable  during  a 
state  of  local  warfare  ;  and  that  they  were  in  some  measure 
advantageous,  inasmuch  as,  without  endangering  the  real 


62  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

safety  of  the  country,  they  were  sufficiently  injurious  to  pre- 
vent its  being  lulled  into  the  lap  of  false  security. 

In  the  beginning  of  October,  1780,  our  author  published,  at 
Philadelphia,  a  long  discussion  on  the  subject  of  taxes,  under 
the  title  of  '  A  Crisis  Extraordinary.'  He  draws  a  comparison 
between  the  extent  of  taxation  in  the  respective  countries  of 
England  and  America :  he  shows,  from  calculation,  that  the 
former  exceed  the  latter  in  more  than  a  tenfold  degree  ;  and 
concludes  by  recommending  the  plan  of  congress ;  that  of 
funding  its  paper,  and  issuing  a  new  coinage  as  a  substitute. 
Notwithstanding  the  determined  hostility  of  the  Americans 
toward  the  English,  their  army  was  considerably  oppressed 
for  want  of  pecuniary  means  ;  and  to  this  cause,  more  than  to 
any  other,  we  may  attribute  the  apparent  hardiness  of  their 
operations  about  this  period.  In  the  course  of  his  reflections, 
he  takes  an  opportunity  of  repeating  his  former  arguments 
against  the  tyranny,  folly,  and  avarice  of  the  English  govern- 
ment :  he  treats  the  difficulties  of  the  country  as  affairs  of  a 
temporary  character,  which  a  little  privation  and  perseverance 
would  speedily  remove. 

While  those  financial  discussions  were  pending,  the  con- 
gress resolved  upon  attempting  a  more  effectual  plan  for  re- 
moving the  public  embarrassments,  than  could  be  derived 
from  any  application  of  the  internal  resources  of  the  states. 
Mr.  Paine  drew  up  a  letter  to  Count  Vergennes,  stating  the 
difficulties  in  which  the  country  was  placed  ;  and  concluding 
with  a  request  that  France  would,  either  as  a  subsidy,  or  as  a 
loan,  supply  the  United  States  with  a  million  sterling,  and 
continue  that  supply  annually  during  the  war.  This  letter 
Mr.  Paine  showed  first  to  M.  Marbois,  the  French  minister's 
secretary.  He  objected  to  the  application  by  observing,  that 
*  a  million  sent  out  of  a  nation  exhausted  it  more  than  ten 
millions  spent  in  it.'  Our  author  was  not  to  be  baffled  in  his 
design  by  this  rebuff;  and  he  accordingly  presented  his 
scheme  to  Mr.  Isard,  member  for  South  Carolina.  This  gen- 
tleman readily  agreed  to  bring  the  subject  before  congress  ; 
which  he  did  very  shortly  afterward.  The  congress,  after  a 
very  short  discussion,  acceded  to  the  proposal ;  and  a  mission 
to  the  court  of  France  was  resolved  upon  immediately. 

Colonel  Laurens,  son  of  the  late  president  of  congress,  was 
appointed  to  negotiate  the  affair ;  and,  at  his  anxious  solici- 
tation, Mr.  Paine  accompanied  him  to  Paris.  They  sailed  in 
February,  1781,  and  arrived  in  France  the  following  month. 
Their  mission  was  attended  with  more  success  than  was  ex- 
pected. They  obtained  six  millions  of  livres  as  a  present, 
and  ten  millions  as  a  loan,  borrowed  in  Holland  on  the  secu- 
rity of  France.  They  sailed  from  Brest  at  the  beginning  of 
June,  and  arrived  at  Boston  in  August  5  having  under  their 


MR.  PAINE  GOES  TO  FRANCE.  63 

charge  two  millions  and  a  half  in  silver,  exclusive  of  a  ship 
and  brig  laden  with  clothing  and  military  stores. 

From  the  account  which  Mr.  Paine  gives  of  himself,  it  ap- 
pears that  he  had,  some  time  previous  to  this,  formed  a  design 
of  coming  over  to  England,  for  the  purpose  of  exposing  to  the 
people  the  folly  and  perversity  of  their  rulers.  '  I  was,'  he 
observes,  '  strongly  impressed  with  the  idea,  that  if  I  could  get 
over  to  England  without  being  known,  and  only  remain  in 
safety  till  I  could  get  out  a  publication,  that  I  could  open  the 
eyes  of  the  country  with  respect  to  the  madness  and  stupidity 
of  its  government.'*  He  would  have  carried  his  intention  into 
effect  almost  immediately,  but  for  the  advice  of  his  friend 
General  Greene  5  who,  it  appears,  fully  approved  of  the  plan : 
but  the  affair  of  Arnold  and  Andre  happening  shortly  after- 
ward, the  general  altered  his  mind,  and  wrote  very  pressingly 
to  Mr.  Paine  to  dissuade  him  from  his  design.  With  some 
reluctance  he  consented  to  adopt  the  general's  advice ;  both 
parties  conceiving  that  his  personal  safety  would  be  greatly 
endangered  by  any  attempt  at  that  time  to  carry  his  scheme 
into  practice. 

During  our  author's  voyage  to  France  with  Col.  Laurens, 
another  event  occurred  which  confirmed  the  propriety  and 
practicability  of  this  project.  An  English  packet,  from  Fal- 
mouth  to  New  York,  was  taken  by  a  French  privateer ;  and, 
owing  to  an  artful  stratagem  of  the  French  captain,  the  gov- 
ernment despatches  in  the  packet  were  secured  and  brought 
on  board  his  vessel.  They  were  sent  to  Paris  to  the  French 
minister,  Count  Vergennes  j  who,  after  reading  them,  pre- 
sented them  to  Col.  Laurens  and  Mr.  Paine,  to  be  conveyed 
to  America  for  the  information  and  use  of  congress. 

What  the  contents  of  these  despatches  were  is  not  known  j 
but  it  appears  that  they  afforded  Mr.  Paine  a  better  opportu- 
nity of  judging  of  the  perfidy  and  intrigue  of  the  English 
cabinet  than  could  have  been  done  by  any  other  means.  This 
circumstance  renewed  his  former  plan  respecting  the  British 
government ;  but  Colonel  Laurens  being  unwilling  to  return 
alone,  Mr.  Paine  was  induced  to  postpone  its  execution  to  a 
more  favorable  opportunity." 

Previous  to  this  period  the  French  had  declared  in  favor  of 
the  United  States.  The  campaign  of  1778  was  arranged  in 
Paris,  and  a  French  army  and  fleet  co-operated  with  Wash- 
ington ;  yet,  after  the  capture  of  Burgoyne  no  decisive  ac- 
tion was  fought  till  the  capture  of  Cornwallis  in  1780.  The 
war  for  several  years  was  chiefly  predatory  in  the  south,  and 

*  <  Rights  of  Man,'  Part  II.,  p.  70. 


64?  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

General  Howe,  Cornwallis,  and  the  traitor  Arnold,  laid  waste 
the  states  of  South  Carolina,  North  Carolina,  and  Georgia ; 
but  their  troops  were  continually  harassed  by  the  activity  and 
skill  of  the  American  general,  Greene,  who  from  a  black- 
smith became  one  of  the  best  generals  in  the  service  of  the 
states.  During  this  year  (1780),  the  finances  were  in  the 
most  wretched  state  ;  the  paper-money  depreciated  to  a  most 
alarming  extent,  and  it  was  evidently  impossible  to  raise  the 
supplies  by  taxes.  Washington's  private  accounts  to  the 
congress  clearly  revealed  the  miserable  state  of  the  army, 
while  their  published  accounts  deceived  the  enemy.  Mr. 
Paine,  by  his  "  Common  Sense,"  had  previously  produced  the 
declaration  of  independence,  and  the  unanimity  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  "Crisis,"  published  as  we  have  seen  from  time  to 
time,  preserved  that  unanimity,  and  in  a  great  measure  reg- 
ulated the  tone  of  public  feeling.  But  Mr.  Paine  was  not 
backward  in  his  personal  services :  on  one  occasion  when 
with  the  army,  he  formed  apian  to  destroy  a  part  of  the  enemy's 
shipping,  and  offered  to  conduct  the  enterprise.  This  he  ex- 
plainsin  one  number  of  the  "  Crisis,"  and  shows  that  his  ob- 
ject was  not  merely  to  effect  a  loss  to  the  English,  but  to 
abate  their  pride  in  the  strength  of  their  navy,  and  to  encour- 
age the  spirits  of  the  people,  who  thought  the  British  ships- 
of-war  impregnable.  When  the  finances  were  in  the  worst 
state,  before  Mr.  Paine  went  to  France,  and  when  Washington 
feared  the  immediate  dissolution  of  the  army  for  want  of  pay 
and  necessaries,  Mr.  Paine  began  a  private  subscription  with 
five  hundred  dollars,  all  the  money  he  could  then  raise,  inclu- 
ding his  salary  as  secretary.  The  subscriptions  on  this  occa- 
sion reached  the  large  amount  of  three  hundred  thousand 
pounds  5  and  this  fund  converted  into  a  bank  supplied  the  im- 
mediate wants  of  the  government,  and  enabled  Washington  to 
commence  the  preparation  to  encompass  and  subdue  Corn- 
wallis, and  thus  bring  an  end  to  the  war.  These  preparations 
were  facilitated  by  a  knowledge  of  the  success  of  Colonel 
Laurens's  mission  to  France,  assisted  by  Mr.  Paine :  and  the 
supplies  actually  arriving  while  Washington's  army  was  ma- 
noeuvring for  the  last  great  exploit,  had,  probably  a  consider- 
able effect  on  the  success  of  those  manoeuvres.  This  was 


CORNWALLIS  SURRENDERS.  65 

evidently  the  opinion  of  Mr,  Paine.  New  York  was  in  pos- 
session of  the  enemy,  the  headquarters  of  Clinton.  The 
anxious  solicitude  of  Washington  was  to  recover  this  city. 
Washington's  plans  were  apparently  all  directed  to  this  ob- 
ject j  and  the  chief  attention  of  Clinton  consequently  bent  on 
the  retention  of  that  place.  Cornwallis  was  then  at  York- 
town,  Va,,  on  the  Susquehannah.  The  French  fleet,  by  pre- 
tending to  fly,  drew  out  the  English  fleet  till  a  re-enforce- 
ment entered  the  Chesapeake,  and  then  returned  to  take  and 
keep  possession  of  that  bay.  Troops  marching  from  the 
south  did  not  alarm  Clinton  ;  re-enforcements  from  the  west 
he  was  perhaps  ignorant  of  j  and  the  troops  progressing  down 
the  Hudson  from  the  north  he  supposed  destined  to  join 
Washington  near  New  York.  When  these  collections  of 
troops  were  all  within  a  few  days'  march  of  the  Susquehan- 
nah and  Yorktown,  Washington  suddenly  turned  his  own 
force  in  that  direction.  Clinton  thought  it  a  ruse,  and  remain- 
ed inactive  and  thus  was  Cornwallis  suddenly  surrounded,  in 
every  direction,  by  sea  and  land,  by  the  regulars,  their^uxili- 
aries,  the  French  and  Poles,  and  by  the  militia*  Cornwallis, 
unprepared  for  a  siege,  surrendered  before  he  could  be  reliev- 
ed by  Clinton  ;  and  thus  a  virtual  end  was  put  to  the  war,  for 
till  peace  was  restored,  the  British  merely  kept  possession  of 
New  York,  and  one  or  two  other  stations,  holding  in  subjec- 
tion only  the  parts  actually  occupied  by  their  armies.  Just 
before  this  brilliant  affair  Mr.  Paine  arrived  from  France, 
bringing  with  him  two  millions  of  livres  in  cash  and  other 
supplies,  forming  the  loading  of  a  brig  and  a  ship.  Mr.  Paine 
was  instrumental  in  procuring  these  supplies,  as  he  was  better 
known  (from  the  reputation  of  his  writings)  than  Col.  Laurens, 
who  for  that  reason  had  desired  his  company.  Whether 
these  supplies  were  actually  used  to  facilitate  Washington's 
masterly  movements  we  do  not  know,  but  as  they  were 
known  to  be  coming,  they  gave  the  government  and  Wash- 
ington a  credit  which  they  would  not  otherwise  have  enjoyed. 
Money  and  credit  are  the  sinews  of  war,  and  are  as  necessary 
to  success  as  unanimity.  Paine  has  the  merit  of  contributing 
to  both  in  a  very  high  degree.  We  shall  quote  again  from 
Sherwin,  the  most  accurate  of  Mr.  Paine's  biographers. 

9 


66  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

"In  March,  1782,  Mr.  Paine  published  at  Philadelphia  the 
tenth  number  of  the  *  Crisis.*     The  king  of  England,  proba- 
bly with  a  view  of  keeping  the  people  in  good  humor  with 
the  expenses  of  the  war,  had  delivered  a  speech  at  the  recent 
Jk_  opening  of  parliament  in  which  the  Americans  were  abused, 
/Ta     and  the  English  flattered,  without  any  regard  to  truth  or  pro- 

Ipriety.  On  this  document  our  author  delivers  his  opinion  in 
terms  of  the  severest  reprobation.  He  satirizes  the  preten- 
sions of  the  king  to  the  title  of  sovereign  of  a  free  people, 
and  draws  an  interesting  parallel  between  the  hardships  of  the 
Americans  and  those  they  would  have  suffered  had  the  British 
been  victorious.  He  concludes  the  number  with  an  address 
to  the  people  of  America  on  the  financial  affairs  of  the  states. 

In  May,  1782,  he  published  at  Philadelphia  the  eleventh 
number  of  the  '  Crisis :'  ( On  the  present  State  of  News.'  It 
i  had  been  conjectured  and  rumored  that  the  object  of  the  Brit- 
L/V  ish  cabinet  was  to  detach  France  from  America,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  a  separate  peace  with  the  former,  in  order  that 
V  she  might  be  enabled  to  bring  her  whole  force  against  the  in- 

dependence of  the  latter.  However  absurd  and  dishonorable 
such  an  attempt  might  appear,  it  would  have  been  no  more  than 
a  continuance  of  the  policy  which  had  induced  the  ministry  to 
persist  so  long  in  a  war  where  there  was  neither  hope  to  en- 
courage nor  principle  to  sanction  their  conduct.  The  present 
number  appears  to  have  been  written  with  a  view  to  inform 
the  public  that  such  a  design  had  been  contemplated  by  the 
British  court,  and  that  want  of  means  alone  had  prevented 
it  from  being  carried  into  execution. 

In  the  same  month,  Mr.  Paine  published  a  supernumerary 
*  Crisis,'  consisting  of  a  letter  to  Sir  Guy  Carleton.  This  is  a 
most  forcible  appeal  to  the  English  general  respecting  the 
barbarous  murder  of  Captain  Huddy,  by  a  refugee  of  the 
name  of  Lippincot.  Captain  Huddy,  of  the  Jersey  militia, 
with  a  small  party  of  Americans,  had  been  attacked  and  taken 
prisoner  by  an  armed  force  in  the  pay  of  the  British,  and  car- 
ried into  New  York.  About  three  weeks  afterward  he  was 
taken  down  to  the  water-side,  put  in  a  boat,  and  brought 
again  upon  the  Jersey  shore,  where  he  was  atrociously  mur- 
dered, under  the  direction  of  the  refugee  before  mentioned. 
General  Washington,  determined  that  such  an  act  should  not 
pass  without  punishment,  directed  that  lots  should  be  cast  by 
the  British  prisoners,  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  a  victim  in. 
return  for  the  murder  of  Captain  Huddy.  The  lot  fell  upon 
Captain  Asgill ;  and  Mr.  Paine's  letter  to  Sir  Guy  Carleton, 
was  written  with  a  view  to  induce  him  to  give  up  the  mur- 
derer, and  save  the  life  of  a  brave  and  innocent  officer.  It 
does  not  appear  that  this  request  was  ever  complied  with ; 
and  Asgill,  after  suffering  all  the  suspense,  misery,  and  de- 


ADDITIONAL  CRISIS.  67 

spair,  which  naturally  attend  such  a  situation,  was  at  last  par- 
doned through  the  humanity  of  the  American  general. 

In  October,  1782,  our  author  published,  at  Philadelphia,  a 
letter  to  Lord  Shelburne  (afterward  marquis  of  Lansdowne) : 
this  has  since  been  classed  as  the  twelfth  number  of  the 
*  Crisis.'  It  is  throughout  an  excellent  production.  The  pol- 
icy of  concluding  a  peace  with  America,  and  acknowledging  her 
independence,  had  on  several  occasions  been  discussed  ;  but  iy 
Lord  Shelburne,  unable  to  discover  the  propriety  of  the 
measure,  and  acting  under  the  influence  of  that  silly  vanity 
which  forms  so  noble  an  attribute  of  the  freeborn  English- 
man, had  declared  that  *  the  sun  of  Great  Britain  would  set 
whenever  she  acknowledged  the  independence  of  America.' 
The  sentiment  contained  in  this  declaration  is  treated  with  a 
poignant  sat  ire,  which  must  have  been  severely  felt  by  the 
party  with  whom  it  originated. 

The  war  was  now  fast  drawing  toward  a  conclusion,  and       / 
America  was  about  to  enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  liberty  for 
which  she  had  so  long  and  so  ardently  contended.    The  Brit- 
ish cabinet  was  at  length  convinced  of  the  total  impossibility 
of  conquering  the  Americans ;  and  the  operations  of  the  Eng- 
lish declined  in  proportion  as  this  conviction  became  more      \ 
general.     A  definite  treaty  of  peace  was  set  on  foot  at  Paris 
toward  the  end  of  the  year  1782,  and  concluded  a  few  months 
afterward.     The  triumphant  situation  of  America — the  grand     /      OSfN 
and  glorious  effect  of  her  courage  and  constancy,  is  admira-     v  ^K 
bly  described  by  Mr.  Paine  in  the  last  number  of  the  *  Crisis.'     i \ 
He  congratulates  the  country  on  the  happy  conclusion  of  '  the 
times  that  tried  men's  souls  :'  he  dwells  with  pleasure  on  the 
fair  character  which  America  had  established  among  the  na- 
tions of  the  world ;  and  observes  with  truth,  that  she  need 
never  be  ashamed  to  tell  her  birth,  or  relate  the  stages  by 
which  she  rose  to  empire.     Shortly  after  the  publication  of 
this  piece,  Mr.  Paine  wrote  a  reply  to  a  pamphlet  by  Lord 
Sheffield,  on  the  subject  of  American  commerce.      This  is 
classed  with  our  author's  previous  productions  as  a  supernu- 
merary *  Crisis.' 

To  have  preserved  an  exact  chronological  order,  we  ought 
to  have  noticed  two  other  pamphlets,  written  by  him  some 
time  previous  to  the  cessation  of  hostilities.  The  first  of  "jC 
these  is  entitled  'PuklicGo^  f  being  an  examination  of  the 
claim  of  Virginia  toTn^ricWrwe stern  territory.  The  method 
in  which  the  case  is  investigated,  discovers  all  the  acuteness 
and  ability  which  might  be  expected  from  the  author ;  but  as 
the  subject  is  not  now  a  matter  of  interest,  even  to  the 
American  reader,  it  is  not  here  necessary  to  enter  into  the 
discussion.  There  is,  however,  one  circumstance  connected 
with  the  performance  which  ought  not  to  be  omitted,  as  it 
serves  to  show  the  disinterested  character  of  Mr.  Paine,  and, 


68  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

his  determination  to  publish  his  opinions  unbiased  and  un- 
shackled, even  though  they  should  militate  against  his  own 
private  interests.  The  part  which  our  author  espoused  in 
the  dispute  was  in  opposition  to  the  claim  of  Virginia,  though 
it  was  well  known  to  him  at  the  time  that  a  proposition  was 
pending  before  the  assembly  of  that  state,  for  granting  him  a 
pecuniary  compensation  for  his  writings  in  favor  of  independ- 
J  ence.  Before  the  publication  of  '  Public  Good,'  the  major- 
ity of  the  members  were  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  grant ;  but 
on  the  appearance  of  the  pamphlet,  they  suddenly  changed 
sides,  and  the  motion  was  lost  by  a  single  vote  !  Such  is  the 
reward  of  ingenuous  patriotism  and  a  love  of  truth !  With 
facts  like  this  before  us,  we  may  cease  to  wonder  that  so 
many  seemingly  disinterested  individuals,  in  every  age  and 
country,  are  continually  drawn  into  the  vortex  of  sycophancy 
and  apostacy. 

In  1782,  he  published  a  letter  to  the  Abbe  Raynal.  The 
v^  object  of  this  letter  was  to  clear  up  the  mistakes,  and  expose 
the  errors  into  which  the  abbe  had  fallen  in  his  history  of  the 
American  revolution.  Among  other  things  the  abbe  had  as- 
serted that  none  of  those  energetic  causes,  which  had  pro- 
duced so  many  revolutions  upon  the  globe,  had  existed  in 
North  America ;  that  neither  religion  nor  laws  had  there 
been  outraged ;  that  the  blood  of  martyrs  had  not  streamed 
from  scaffolds ;  that  morals  had  not  been  insulted ;  that 
neither  manners,  customs,  habits,  nor  any  other  object  dear 
to  nations,  had  there  been  the  sport  of  ridicule  ;  and  that  the 
only  question  was,  whether  the  mother-country  had  or  had 
not  a  right  to  lay  a  small  tax  upon  the  colonies.  To  correct 
and  refute  such  misrepresentations  as  these,  a  reference  to 
facts  was  barely  necessary.  They  were  almost  too  palpable 
to  require  a  confutation ;  and  the  popular  character  of  the 
abbe  in  the  literary  world  alone  accounts  for  their  obtaining 
a  currency.  That  such  a  warm  and  enlightened  friend  of 
humanity  and  freedom,  as  the  Abbe  Raynal,  should  be  mis- 
taken in  his  ideas  of  the  American  revolution,  is  at  first  aston- 
ishing ;  but  men  who  from  their  cradles  have  been  surround- 
ed by  despotism,  and  who  have  only  contemplated  the  bles- 
sings of  liberty  as  a  distant  though  delightful  vision,  are 
incapable  of  forming  an  opinion  on  so  great  an  event.  A  long 
habit  of  beholding  the  acts  of  tyranny  almost  unfits  the  mind 
for  the  contemplation  of  any  other  object ;  and  to  this,  more 
than  to  any  other  cause,  must  be  attributed  the  mistaken  con- 
jectures and  disordered  statements  of  the  Abbe  Raynal. 

From  a  comparison  between  some  of  the  abbe's  observa- 
tions and  those  contained  in  '  Common  Sense,'  on  the  subject 
of  society  and  government,  it  appears  that  the  abbe  had  bor- 
rowed very  freely  from  the  latter.  Some  of  his  remarks  are 
a  literal  transcript,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  words.  Among 


PAINE  AND  WASHINGTON.  69 

other  things  which  he  had  misstated,  was  the  account  of  the 
affair  at  Trenton,  which  I  have  already  had  occasion  to  notice. 
The  abbe  had  described  this  as  a  mere  accidental  occurrence, 
falling,  as  he  says,  l  within  the  wide  empire  of  chance.'  This 
was  a  very  unjust  and  ungenerous  reflection.  The  highest 
praise  was  due  to  the  American  general  and  his  troops,  as  the 
reader  will  perceive  by  turning  to  the  account  of  the  action  5 
and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  such  a  distinguished  writer  as 
the  Abbe  Raynal  should  have  been  misled  on  the  subject,  for 
no  person  could  have  done  it  more  justice. 

After  exposing  the  abbe's  errors  and  misrepresentations, 
Mr.  Paine  indulges  himself  in  a  variety  of  philosophical  re-  -J 
flections.    The  following  description  of  prejudice  is  so  replete 
with  originality  and  beauty,  that  I  cannot  forbear  quoting  it : — 

1  There  is  something  exceedingly  curious  in  the  constitution 
and  operation  of  prejudice.  It  has  the  singular  ability  of  ac- 
commodating itself  to  all  the  possible  varieties  of  the  human 
mind.  Some  passions  and  vices  are  but  thinly  scattered  among 
mankind,  and  find  only  here  and  there  a  fitness  of  reception. 
But  prejudice,  like  the  spider,  makes  everywhere  its  home. 
It  has  neither  taste  nor  choice  of  place,  and  all  that  it  requires 
is  room.  There  is  scarcely  a  situation,  except  fire  and  water, 
in  which  the  spider  will  not  live.  So,  let  the  mind  be  as  naked 
as  the  walls  of  an  empty  and  forsaken  tenement,  gloomy  as  a 
dungeon,  or  ornamented  with  the  richest  abilities  of  thinking  ; 
let  it  be  hot,  cold,  dark,  or  light,  lonely  or  inhabited,  still  pre- 
judice, if  undisturbed,  will  fill  it  with  cobwebs,  and  live,  like 
the  spider,  where  there  seems  nothing  to  live  on.  If  the  one 
prepares  her  food  by  poisoning  it  to  her  palate  and  her  use, 
the  other  does  the  same  ;  and  as  several  of  our  passions  are 
strongly  characterized  by  the  animal  world,  prejudice  may  be 
denominated  the  spider  of  the  mind.' 

The  spirit  of  universal  philanthropy  which  formed  so  con- 
spicuous a  feature  in  Mr.  Paine's  character,  the  powerful  effect 
of  his  writings  in  favor  of  independence,  and  the  talent  which 
he  possessed  for  philosophical  and  mechanical  discussion,  ren- 
dered his  society  a  valuable  acquisition.  Of  his  friendship 
with  Dr.  Franklin,  and  several  other  distinguished  individuals, 
we  have  already  had  occasion  to  speak ;  and  of  the  esteem  in 
which  his  services  and  character  were  held  by  General  Wash- 
ington, we  have  several  very  unequivocal  proofs  in  his  conduct 
toward  the  end  of  the  war.  Soon  after  the  definitive  treaty  of 
peace  was  concluded,  the  general  took  up  his  quarters  at 
Rocky  Hill,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Princeton  (where  the  con- 
gress was  then  sitting),  for  the  purpose  of  resigning  his  com- 
mission. There  he  was  informed  that  Mr.  Paine  had  retired 
to  Bordentown,  where  he  had  a  small  property.  Conceiving, 


J 


70  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

probably,  that  Mr.  Paine's  circumstances  were  not  in  the  most 
flourishing  condition,  he  very  kindly  wrote  to  him  the  follow- 
ing letter : — 

1  ROCKY  HILL,  Sept.  10,  1783. 

I  have  learned,  since  I  have  been  at  this  place,  that  you  are 
at  Bordentown.  Whether  for  the  sake  of  retirement  or  econ- 
omy, I  know  not.  Be  it  for  either,  for  both,  or  whatever  it 
may,  if  you  will  come  to  this  place  and  partake  with  me,  I 
shall  be  exceedingly  happy  to  see  you  at  it. 

Your  presence  may  remind  congress  of  your  past  services 
to  this  country ;  and  if  it  is  in  my  power  to  impress  them, 
command  my  best  exertions  with  freedom,  as  they  will  be 
rendered  cheerfully  by  one  who  entertains  a  lively  sense  of 
the  importance  of  your  works,  and  who,  with  much  pleasure, 
subscribes  himself 

Your  sincere  friend, 

G.  WASHINGTON.' 

Mr.  Paine  was  urged  by  several  of  his  friends  to  make  an 
application  to  congress  for  a  compensation  for  his  revolution- 
ary writings  ;  but  this  he  uniformly  refused  to  do.  That  the 
man  who  had  been  the  means  of  first  rousing  the  country  to 
a  declaration  of  independence,  and  whose  writings  had  after- 
ward very  materially  contributed  to  the  attainment  of  the 
object,  was  deserving  of  remuneration,  no  one  could  deny ; 
but  Mr.  Paine's  services  in  this  respect  being  entirely  of  a 
voluntary  nature,  he  could  not  consent  to  petition  the  con- 
gress for  a  pecuniary  recompense.  His  writings,  however 
meritorious  and  serviceable  they  might  have  been  (and  the 
most  illiberal  of  his  calumniators  do  not  deny  that  their  effects 
were  great  and  universal),  were  dictated  by  the  pure  prin- 
ciples of  disinterested  patriotism,  and  he  could  not  degrade 
their  character  by  converting  them  into  a  medium  of  sordid 
emolument. 

I  am  well  aware  of  the  attempts  which  have  been  made  to 
show  that  Mr.  Paine's  patriotism  was  not  of  that  disinterested 
nature  here  described,  and  when  we  see  that  these  attempts 
are  founded  upon  the  resolutions  of  congress  itself,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  they  should  have  been  attended  with  some 
success  among  the  weaker  part  of  mankind.  A  short  explan- 
ation will,  however,  do  away  with  the  impressions  which  such 
reports  are  calculated  to  produce.  Before  offering  any  ob- 
servations on  the  subject,  we  will  first  insert  the  resolutions 
as  extracted  from  the  journals  of  congress : — 

*  FRIDAY,  August  26,  1785. — On  the  report  of  a  committee, 
consisting  of  Mr.  Gerry,  Mr.  Petit,  and  Mr.  King,  to  whom 
was  referred  a  letter  of  the  13th  from  Thomas  Paine  :— • 


INDEMNITY  FROM  CONGRESS.  71 

Resolved,  That  the  early,  unsolicited,  and  continued  labors 
of  Mr.  Thomas  Paine,  in  explaining  and  enforcing  the  princi- 
ples of  the  late  revolution,  by  ingenious  and  timely  publica- 
tions upon  the  nature  of  liberty  and  civil  government,  have 
been  well  received  by  the  citizens  of  these  states,  and  merit 
the  approbation  of  congress,  and  that  in  consideration  of 
these  services  and  the  benefits  produced  thereby,  Mr.  Paine 
is  entitled  to  a  liberal  gratification  from  the  United  States.' 

'  MONDAY,  October  3,  1785. — On  the  report  of  a  committee, 
consisting  of  Mr.  Gerry,  Mr.  Howell,  and  Mr.  Long,  to  whom 
were  referred  sundry  letters  from  Mr.  Thomas  Paine,  and  a 
report  on  his  letter  of  the  13th  of  September  : — 

Resolved,  That  the  board  of  treasury  take  order  for  paying      v/ 
to  Mr.  Thomas  Paine  the  sum  of  three  thousand  dollars,  for      /\ 
the  considerations  mentioned  in  the  resolution  of  the  26th  of 
August  last.' 

That  the  congress  granted,  and  that  Mr  Paine  received, 
the  three  thousand  dollars  above  mentioned,  are  facts  beyond 
dispute.  The  only  error  is  in  the  wording  of  the  two  resolu- 
tions, which  makes  the  grant  appear  the  reverse  of  what  it 
really  was.  The  case  was  this  :  the  salary  which  Mr.  Paine  ^ 
received  as  secretary  to  the  committee  for  foreign  affairs  was 
very  small,  being  only  eight  hundred  dollars  a  year,  and  the 
depreciation  which  took  place  in  consequence  of  the  immense 
and  repeated  issues  of  paper-money,  reduced  even  this  to  less 
than  a  fifth  of  its  nominal  value.  Mr.  Paine,  aware  of  the 
difficulties  in  which  the  congress  were  placed,  forebore  to 
harass  them  with  any  applications  for  money  during  the  war, 
but  after  it  was  closed  he  addressed  to  them  a  letter  request- 
ing that  they  would  make  up  the  depreciation,  with  some 
other  incidental  expenses  which  he  had  been  at  in  the  discharge 
of  his  official  duties.  The  letter  was  referred  to  a  committee, 
of  which  Mr.  Gerry  was  chairman.  This  gentlemen  came  to 
Mr.  Paine  and  informed  him  that  '  the  committee  had  consult- 
ed upon  the  subject,  that  they  intended  to  bring  in  a  hand- 
some report,  but  they  thought  it  best  not  to  take  any  notice 
of  Deane's  affair  or  Mr.  Paine's  salary.' — *  They  will  indemnify 
you,'  said  he,  'without  it.  The  case  is,  there  are  some 
motions  on  the  journals  of  congress  for  censuring  you  with 
respect  to  Deane's  affair,  which  cannot  now  be  recalled, 
because  they  have  been  printed.  We  will,  therefore,  bring  in 
a  report  that  will  supersede  them,  without  mentioning  the 
purport  of  your  letter.' 

The  grant  was  therefore  an  indemnity  to  Mr.  Paine  for  the 
depreciation  in  his  salary  as  secretary  of  the  committee,  and     \/ 
the  reason  for  couching  it  in  the  terms  above  quoted,  was  to       j\ 
shield  the  congress  from  a  confession  of  the  injustice  they 
had  done  our  author  for  his  conduct  during  the  disputes  about 


72  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

the  claims  of  Silas  Deane.  It  was  no  more  than  he  had  a 
right  to  expect,  and  those  who  granted  it  had  not  much  rea- 
son to  boast  of  their  liberality,  in  performing  what  was  merely 
an  act  of  pecuniary  justice.  So  much  for  the  grant  of  three 
thousand  dollars,  the  false  language  in  which  it  is  clothed, 
and  the  malevolent  insinuations  which  it  has  given  rise  to. 

But  though  Mr.  Paine  had  resolved  not  to  make  any  appli- 
cation to  the  congress  on  the  score  of  his  literary  labors,  he 
had  several  friends  in  the  provincial  assemblies  who  were  de- 
termined that  his  exertions  should  not  pass  unrewarded.  I 
have  already  spoken  of  the  proposition  that  was  made  to  the 
assembly  of  Virginia  for  this  purpose,  and  the  cause  of  its 
failure.  Similar  motions  were  brought  before  the  legislature 
of  Pennsylvania  and  the  assembly  of  New  York  ;  the  former 
of  which  gave  him  £500,  and  the  latter  the  confiscated  estate 
of  a  Mr.  Frederick  Devoe,  a  royalist.  This  estate,  situated  at 
New  Rochelle,  consisting  of  more  than  three  hundred  acres 
of  land  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  with  a  spacious  and  ele- 
gant stone-house,  beside  extensive  out-buildings,  was  a  valu- 
able acquisition ;  and  the  readiness  with  which  it  was  granted, 
is  a  proof  of  the  high  estimation  in  which  Mr.  Paine's  services 
were  held  by  one  of  the  most  opulent  and  powerful  states  in 
the  Union. 

In  1786,  he  published  at  Philadelphia,  his  '  Dissertations  on 
Government,'  '  The  Affairs  of  the  Bank,'  and  l  Paper-Money.' 
The  bank  alluded  to  was  the  one  which  had  been  established 
some  years  before,  under  the  name  of  the  '  Bank  of  North 
America.'  Whatever  opinion  may  be  entertained  of  tjiese  in- 
stitutions in  general,  it  is  evident  that  the  one  in  question  had 
been  of  considerable  service  to  the  Americans  during  the 
most  eventful  period  of  their  struggle  for  independence  ;  to 
say  the  least,  it  was  therefore  entitled  to  their  gratitude.  But 
when  men  find  themselves  in  a  state  of  ease  and  security,  they 
are  too  apt  to  forget  the  means  by  which  they  obtained  these 
advantages  ;  and  the  bank,  without  any  regard  to  its  past  ser- 
vices, was  attacked  as  an  establishment  at  variance  with  every 
principle  of  private  security  and  public  freedom.  In  the 
pamphlet  before  us  Mr.  Paine  gives  an  elaborate  and  interest- 
ing account  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  institution  ;  and  as 
he  was  one  of  the  first  promoters  of  the  scheme,  a  short  ac- 
count of  it  here  will  not  be  altogether  unnecessary,  although 
it  will  involve  some  repetition. 

The  beginning  of  the  year  1780  was  a  very  distressing 
season  for  the  Americans.  The  people,  though  not  conquer- 
ed, were  depressed  ;  the  soldiers,  though  not  driven  from  the 
field,  were  destitute  of  resources,  and  such  was  their  condi- 
tion, that  General  Washington  was,  for  a  considerable  time, 
in  the  daily  dread  of  a  general  mutiny.  In  this  state  of  affairs 
he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Pennsylvania  assembly,  describing 


BANK  OF  NORTH  AMERICA.  73 

in  the  strongest  terms  the  nature  of  his  situation.  At  that 
period  Mr.  Paine  was  clerk  of  the  assembly,  and,  as  a  part  of 
his  duty,  he  was  requested  to  read  the  letter.  When  this  was 
done,  he  informs  us,  '  a  despairing  silence  pervaded  the  house.' 
No  one  ventured  to  speak  for  a  considerable  time.  At  length 
one  of  the  members  arose  and  said :  '  If  the  account  in  that 
letter  is  a  true  state  of  things,  and  we  are  in  the  situation 
there  represented,  it  appears  to  me  in  vain  to  contend  the 
matter  any  longer.  We  may  as  well  give  up  at  first  as  at  last.' 
Another  of  the  members,  more  cheerful  than  the  last,  rose 
and  expressed  his  hope  that  the  house  would  not  be  overcome 
by  despair ;  that  the  only  way  to  get  over  the  difficulty  was 
by  exertion ;  and  a  motion  for  adjournment  being  made,  the 
assembly  separated  without  coming  to  any  conclusion. 

America  was,  indeed,  at  this  period,  in  a  most  critical  situ- 
ation. There  now  appeared  no  chance  of  retrieving  her 
affairs  by  taxation,  for  the  people  were  already  overburdened, 
and  the  only  mode  that  presented  itself  was  that  of  a  volun- 
tary subscription.  There  was  no  time  to  be  lost ;  and,  as  a 
beginning,  Mr.  Paine,  immediately  on  his  return  from  the 
house,  drew  the  salary  due  to  him  as  clerk  of  the  assembly, 
and  enclosed  five  hundred  dollars  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  M'Clena^- 
ghan,  proposing  to  him  to  commence  a  subscription,  as  the 
only  means  of  alleviating  the  wants  of  the  army.  This  gen- 
tleman showed  the  proposal  to  several  others  who  fully  ap- 
proved of  it :  a  subscription  was  commenced,  and  after  being 
attended  with  considerable  success,  the  subscribers  formed 
themselves  into  a  bank,  which  soon  answered  all  the  purposes 
for  which  it  was  intended.  In  1782,  the  subscribers  were 
legally  incorporated  under  the  title  of  the  '  Bank  of  North 
America,'  which  they  held,  with  advantage  to  the  public.' 

Mr.  Paine  is  clear  in  his  opinion  on  paper-money :  but  he 
regards  this  bank  as  one  of  necessity  in  its  origin,  and  of  great 
service  to  the  country  during  the  latter  part  of  the  war,  when 
the  irredeemable  notes  issued  by  the  government  had  lost       >        / 
their  value  by  depreciation.     Mr.  Paine  could  not  forget  the  * 

services  of  the  bank ;  and  hence  he  defended  it  efficiently 
against  this  attack,  which  he  considered  rude  and  unneces- 
sary :  yet  he  explicitly  condemns  the  charter,  which  was  made 
perpetual.  This  was  the  last  public  act  of  Mr.  Paine  previous 
to  his  departure  for  Europe. 

Thus  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion  of  the  second  period  of 
Mr.  Paine's  life.  At  this  time  he  enjoyed  the  highest  popu* 
larity,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  the  friendship  of  the  most 

10 


74«  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

enlightened  patriots  of  the  age.  Mr.  Paine  was  as  much 
esteemed  in  his  private  life  as  in  his  public.  He  was  a  wel- 
come visiter  to  the  tables  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens : 
his  manners  and  habits  were  those  of  a  gentleman,  which  ren- 
dered him  agreeable,  not  only  to  the  master  of  the  family,  but 
to  the  mistress  also.  He  was  full  of  anecdote,  extremely 
social,  and  always  mixed  goodnature  with  his  reflections.  At 
a  later  period,  in  prospect  of  a  dinner-party,  Home  Tooke 
remarked,  that  "  he  would  venture  to  say  that  the  best  thing 
would  be  said  by  Mr.  Paine."  Indeed,  his  conversational 
powers  were  as  distinguished  as  his  tact  for  writing.  An  old 
lady,  now  a  boardinghouse-keeper  in  Cedar  street,  remembers, 
when  a  girl,  visiting  Mr.  Paine  just  after  the  war,  when  he 
took  possession  of  his  house  and  farm  at  New  Rochelle,  and 
gave  a  village-fete  on  the  occasion  ;  she  then  only  knew  him 
as  "  Common  Sense,"  and  supposed  that  was  his  name.  On 
that  day  he  had  something  to  say  to  everybody,  and  young 
as  she  was  she  received  a  portion  of  his  attention ;  while  he 
sat  in  the  shade  and  assisted  in  the  labor  of  the  feast,  by  cut- 
ting or  breaking  sugar  to  be  used  in  some  agreeable  liquids 
by  his  guests.  Mr.  Paine  was  then,  if  not  handsome,  a  fine, 
agreeable  looking  man. 

Those  disposed  to  censure  Mr.  Paine,  find  a  subject  in  the 
affair  of  Deane  :  they  say  nothing  can  excuse  his  betrayal  of 
the  public  secrets  of  office,  even  though  it  was  for  the  benefit 
of  the  people,  to  resist  an  unjust  claim  on  the  public,  and  to 
expose  a  public  robber.  In  this  affair  we  must,  however,  re- 
member, that  when  France  wished  the  secret  kept  she  was 
not  at  war  with  England ;  but  that  when  Paine  made  the  ex- 
posure France  was  at  open  war  with  England.  Still,  we  are 
not  disposed  to  defend  the  act ;  while  we  acquit  him  of  every 
moral  impropriety.  We  think,  with  Sterne,  in  the  case  of 
Corporal  Trim,  who  had  disobeyed  orders  in  the  performance 
of  an  act  of  humanity,  when  he  makes  Uncle  Toby  say,  "  You 
did  very  right  as  a  man,  but  very  wrong  as  a  soldier."  Mr. 
Paine  was  placed  in  a  position  where  he  had  the  choice  of 
two  evils :  in  his  choice  he  sacrificed  himself  for  the  benefit 
of  the  country.  A  man,  less  generous,  would  have  taken 
care  of  himself  at  all  hazards. 


GOES  TO  EUROPE.  75 


PART   III. 

FROM  MR.  PAINE'S  DEPARTURE  FROM  AMERICA  IN  1787  TO  HIS  FINAL 

RETURN  IN  1808,  EMBRACING  THE  PERIOD  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLU- 
TION AND  DURATION  OF  THE  FRENCH  REPUBLIC. 

"  WE  are  now,"  says  Sherwin,  "  to  follow  Mr.  Paine  to  a 
different  scene  from  that  in  which  he  had  been  a  prominent 
performer  for  nearly  thirteen  years.     His  desire  of  attacking 
the  English  government  on  the  spot  where  its  principles  were 
still  in  full  operation,  had  suffered  no  change  or  abatement, 
and  as  America  no  longer  stood  in  need  of  his  services,  he  y 
resolved  on  putting  his  project  into  execution  as  soon  as  pos-^ 
sible.      In  April,  1787,  he  set  sail  from  the  United  States  for 
France,  and   arrived  in  Paris   after  a    short   passage.      His 
knowledge   of  mechanics  and  natural  philosophy  had  before 
his  departure  procured  him  the  honor  of  being  admitted  a 
member  of  the  American  Philosophical  society ;  he  was  like- 
wise appointed  master  of  arts  by  the  university  of  Philadel- 
phia.    These  academic  honors,  though  not  of  much  conse- 
quence in  themselves,  were  the  means  of  introducing  him  to 
several  of  the  most  scientific  men  in  France,  and  soon  after 
his  arrival  he  exhibited  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences  in  Paris, 
the  model  of  an  iron  bridge  which  had  occupied  much  of  his 
leisure  time  during  his  residence  in  America.     This  ingenious 
and  useful  production  received  the  most  unqualified  approba- 
tion of  the   academy,  and  it  is  but  justice  to  Mr.  Paine  to 
observe,  that  his  recommendations  on  this  subject  have  been     / 
sanctioned  and  adopted  by  some   of  the  most  enlightened  */ 
characters  of  the  present  age.     Among  those  who  have  given 
their  opinion  on  the  subject,  we  ought  to  notice  Sir  Joseph 
Banks,  who,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  America,  published  some 
years  ago,  says  :    '  I  expect  many  similar  improvements  from 
your   countrymen,  who  think  with  vigor,  and  are  in  a  great      ? 
measure  free  from  those  shackles  of  theory  which  are  impress- 
ed on  the  minds  of  our  people,  even  before  they  are  capable 
of  exerting  their  mental  faculties  to  advantage.' 

From  Paris  Mr.  Paine  proceeded  to  London,  where  he  ar- 
rived on  the  third  of  September.  Before  the  end  of  that 
month  he  went  to  Thetford  to  see  his  mother,  who  by  this  time 
was  borne  down  by  age  and  penury.  His  father,  it  appears, 
had  died  during  his  absence  j  and  he  hastened  to  the  place  of 


76  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

his  birth  to  relieve  the  wants  of  his  surviving  parent.  He  led  a 
recluse  sort  of  life  at  Thetford  for  several  weeks,  being  princi- 
pally occupied  in  writing  a  pamphlet  on  the  state  of  the  nation, 
under  the  title  of  'Prospects  on  the  Rubicon.'  This  was  pub- 
lished in  London,  toward  the  end  of  the  year  1787.  The  pur- 
port of  the  work  is  an  investigation  of  the  causes  and  conse- 
quences of  the  politics  expected  to  be  agitated  at  the  approach- 
ing meeting  of  parliament.  A  great  variety  of  subjects  are 
introduced,  not  only  on  government  in  general,  but  on  what 
is  usually  termed  political  economy.  The  principal  portion 
of  it  is  occupied  with  a  discussion  on  the  then  unsettled  state 
of  the  affairs  of  Holland,  and  a  comparison  between  the  pop- 
ulation, revenues,  wealth,  and  general  condition- of  France  and 
England.  The  French  revolution  was  at  this  period  begin- 
ning to  bud  forth,  a  spirit  of  inquiry  was  diffusing  itself  over 
the  land,  while  in  England  the  people  were  sunk  into  a  state 
of  torpid  lethargy.  '  The  people  of  France,'  Mr.  Paine 
observes,  '  were  beginning  to  think  for  themselves,  and  the 
x^  people  of  England  were  resigning  up  the  prerogative  of 
thinking.' 

During  the  year  1788,  Mr.  Paine  was  principally  occupied  in 
building  his  bridge.  For  this  purpose  he  went  to  Rotherham 
in  Yorkshire,  in  order  that  he  might  have  an  opportunity  of 
superintending  the  castings  of  iron>  which  were  executed 
under  the  direction  of  his  ingenious  friend,  Mr.  Walker,  the 
proprietor  of  the  foundry  at  that  place.  For  a  copious 
account  of  the  success  which  attended  this  project,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  the  author's  letter  to  Sir  George  Staunton. 
This  gentleman,  who  it  appears  possessed  talent  enough  to 
appreciate  the  value  of  the  performance,  sent  the  letter  to 
the  Society  of  Arts,  &c.,  in  the  Adelphi :  its  contents  were 
deservedly  regarded  by  the  members  of  the  society  as  a  sub- 
ject worthy  of  their  notice,  and  it  was  unanimously  determined 
that  the  letter  should  be  published  in  their  '  Transactions  ;' 
but  the  moment  the  first  part  of  '  Rights  of  Man'  made  its 
"•\  appearance,  this  determination  was  reversed,  and  the  votaries 
*  and  advocates  of  science  became  the  voluntary  tools  of 
despotism.  How  thoroughly  despicable  must  the  minds  of 
those  men  be,  who  could  be  gratified  by  such  an  act  of  pitiful 
meanness ! 

Mr.  Paine  had  been  at  considerable  expense  in  the  erection 
of  his  bridge,  which  was  principally  defrayed  by  a  Mr.  White- 
side,  an  American  merchant.  Of  our  author's  connexions 
with  this  gentleman  I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  any  partic- 
ulars which  may  be  relied  upon ;  but  the  probability  is,  that 
Mr.  Paine  had  consigned  over  to  him  some  of  his  property  in 
America,  and  on  the  strength  of  this  consideration  had  drawn 
upon  him  for  money  whenever  he  had  wanted  it.  Be  this  as 
it  may,  it  is  certain  he  had  overdrawn  his  account  to  a  consid- 


CAUSES  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  77 

erable  extent,  and  Whiteside  becoming  a  bankrupt  soon  after- 
ward, the  assignees  arrested  him  for  the  balance.  From  this 
disagreeable  situation  he  was  in  a  short  time  released  by  the 
kindness  of  two  American  merchants,  who  agreed  to  become 
his  bail,  Mr.  Paine  paying  down  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
money,  which  by  this  time  he  had  received  from  America,  and 
giving  his  promissory  note  for  the  remainder. 

The  situation  of  France  was  by  this  period  become  a  mat- 
ter of  great  interest  to  all  Europe,  and  as  Mr.  Paine  was  in 
confidential  intercourse  with  the  chief  authors  of  the  great 
scenes  which  were  taking  place,  he  hastened  over  to  Paris, 
that  he  might  have  the  pleasure  of  witnessing  the  downfall 
of  Bourbon  despotism." 

Mr.  Paine's  disinterested  exertions  in  the  cause  both  of 
French  and  English  liberty  can  best  be  understood  by  taking 
a  clear  view  of  the  French  revolution ;  and  as  Mr.  Paine  has 
himself  given  us  the  best  concise  history  of  that  event,  we 
shall  offer  no  apology  for  its  introduction  here.  Our  extract 
is  taken  from  the  "  Rights  of  Man,"  a  work  which  we  must  / 
presently  introduce  as  the  principal  political  publication  of 
Mr.  Paine.  In  this  work  he  quotes  an  expression  of  Mr. 
Burke,  that,  "All  circumstances  taken  together,  the  French 
revolution  is  the  most  astonishing  that  has  hitherto  happened 
in  the  world."  Mr.  Paine  then  remarks : — 

"  As  wise  men  are  astonished  at  foolish  things,  and  other 
people  at  wise  ones,  I  know  not  on  which  ground  to  account 
for  Mr.  Burke's  astonishment  j  but  certain  it  is  that  he  does 
not  understand  the  French  revolution.  It  has  apparently 
burst  forth  like  a  creation  from  a  chaos,  but  it  is  no  more 
than  the  consequence  of  mental  revolution  previously  exist- 
ing in  France.  The  mind  of  the  nation  had  changed  before- 
hand, and  a  new  order  of  things  has  naturally  followed  a  new 
order  of  thoughts.  I  will  here,  as  concisely  as  I  can,  trace 
out  the  growth  of  the  French  revolution,  and  mark  the  cir- 
cumstances that  have  contributed  to  produce  it. 

The  despotism  of  Louis  XIV.  united  with  the  gayety  of 
his  court,  and  the  gaudy  ostentation  of  his  character,  had  so 
humbled,  and  at  the  same  time  so  fascinated  the  mind  of 
France,  that  the  people  appear  to  have  lost  all  sense  of  their 
own  dignity,  in  contemplating  that  of  their  grand  monarch : 
and  the  whole  reign  of  Louis  XV.,  remarkable  only  for  weak- 
ness and  effeminacy,  made  no  other  alteration  than  that  of 
spreading  a  sort  of  lethargy  over  the  nation,  from  which  it 
showed  no  disposition  to  rise. 


\ 


JH 

78  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

The  only  signs  which  appeared  of  the  spirit  of  liberty 
during  those  periods,  are  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  the 
French  philosophers.  Montesquieu,  president  of  the  parlia- 
ment of  Bourdeaux,  went  as  far  as  a  writer  under  a  despotic 
government  could  well  proceed  :  and  being  obliged  to  divide 
himself  between  principle  and  prudence,  his  mind  often  ap- 
pears under  a  veil,  and  we  ought  to  give  him  credit  for  more 
than  he  has  expressed. 

Voltaire,  who  was  both  the  flatterer  and  satirist  of  despo- 
tism, took  another  line.  His  forte  lay  in  exposing  and  ridicu- 
ling the  superstitions  which  priestcraft,  united  with  statecraft, 
had  interwoven  with  governments.  It  was  not  from  the  puri- 
ty of  his  principles,  or  his  love  of  mankind  (for  satire  and 
philanthropy  are  not  naturally  concordant),  but  from  his 
strong  capacity  of  seeing  folly  in  its  true  shape,  and  his  irre- 
sistible propensity  to  expose  it,  that  he  made  those  attacks. 
They  were,  however,  as  formidable  as  if  the  motives  had 
been  virtuous;  and  he  merits  the  thanks  rather  than  the 
esteem  of  mankind. 

On  the  contrary,  we  find  in  the  writings  of  Rousseau  and 
Abbe  Raynal,  a  loveliness  of  sentiment  in  favor  of  liberty, 
that  excites  respect,  and  elevates  the  human  faculties;  yet 
having  raised  this  animation,  they  do  not  direct  its  operations, 
but  leave  the  mind  in  love  with  an  object,  without  describing 
the  means  of  possessing  it. 

The  writings  of  Quisne,  Turgot,  and  the  friends  of  those 
authors',  are  of  a  serious  kind  ;  but  they  labored  under  the 
same  disadvantage  with  Montesquieu  ;  their  writings  abound 
with  moral  maxims  of  government,  but  are  rather  directed  to 
economize  and  reform  the  administration  of  the  government, 
than  the  government  itself. 

But  all  those  writings  and  many  others  had  their  weight  j 
and  by  the  different  manner  in  which  they  treated  the  subject 
of  government—  Montesquieu  by  his  judgment  and  knowledge 
of  laws,  Voltaire  by  his  wit,  Rousseau  and  Raynal  by  their 
animation,  and  Quisne  and  Turgot  by  their  moral  maxims  and 
systems  of  economy  —  readers  of  every  class  met  with  some- 
thing to  their  taste,  and  a  spirit  of  political  inquiry  began  to 
diffuse  itself  through  the  nation  at  the  time  the  dispute  between 
England  and  the  then  colonies  of  America  broke  out* 

In  the  war  which  France  afterward  engaged  in,  it  is  very 
well  known  that  the  nation  appeared  to  be  beforehand  with 
the  French  ministry.  Each  of  them  had  its  views  ;  but  those 
views  were  directed  to  different  objects  ;  the  one  sought 
liberty  and  the  other  retaliation  on  England.  The  French 
officers  and  soldiers  who  after  this  went  to  America,  were 
eventually  placed  in  the  school  of  freedom,  and  learned  the 
practice  as  well  as  the  principles  of  it  by  heart. 

As  it  was  impossible  to  separate  the  military  events  which 


HISTORY  OF  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  79 

took  place  in  America  from  the  principles  of  the  American 
revolution,  the  publication  of  those  events  in  France  neces- 
sarily connected  themselves  with  the  principles  that  produced 
them.  Many  of  the  facts  were  in  themselves  principles ;  such 
as  the  declaration  of  American  independence,  and  the  treaty 
of  alliance  between  France  and  America,  which  recognised 
the  natural  rights  of  man,  and  justified  resistance  to  oppression;  ' 

The  then  minister  of  France,  Count  Vergennes,  was  not  the 
friend  of  America ;  and  it  is  both  justice  and  gratitude  to  say 
that  it  was  the  queen  of  France  who  gave  the  cause  of  Amer- 
ica a  fashion  at  the  French  court.  Count  Vergennes  was  the 
personal  and  social  friend  of  Dr.  Franklin  ;  and  the  doctor  had 
obtained,  by  his  sensible  gracefulness,  a  sort  of  influence  over 
him  j  but  with  respect  to  principles,  Count  Vergennes  was  a 
despot. 

The  situation  of  Dr.  Franklin  as  minister  from  America  to 
France  should  be  taken  into  the  chain  of  circumstances.  A 
diplomatic  character  is  the  narrowest  sphere  of  society  that 
man  can  act  in.  It  forbids  intercourse  by  a  reciprocity  of 
suspicion ;  and  a  diplomatist  is  a  sort  of  unconnected  atom, 
continually  repelling  and  repelled.  But  this  was  not  the 
case  with  Dr.  Franklin  ;  he  was  not  the  diplomatist  of  a  court, 
but  of  man.  His  character  as  a  philosopher  had  been  long 
established,  and  his  circle  of  society  in  France  was  universal. 

Count  Vergennes  resisted  for  a  considerable  time  the  pub- 
lication of  the  American  constitutions  in  France,  translated 
into  the  French  language  ;  but  even  in  this  he  was  obliged  to 
give  way  to  public  opinion,  and  a  sort  of  propriety  in  admit- 
ting to  appear  what  he  had  undertaken  to  defend.  The  Amer- 
ican constitutions  were  to  liberty  what  a  grammar  is  to 
language:  they  define  its  parts  of  speech,  and  practically 
construct  them  into  syntax. 

The  peculiar  situation  of  the  then  Marquis  de  la  Fayette  is 
another  link  in  the  great  chain.  He  served  in  America  as  an 
American  officer,  under  a  commission  of  congress,  and  by  the 
universality  of  his  acquaintance,  was  in  close  friendship  with 
the  civil  government  of  America  as  well  as  with  the  military 
line.  He  spoke  the  language  of  the  country,  entered  into  the 
discussions  on  the  principles  of  government,  and  was  always 
a  welcome  friend  at  any  election. 

When  the  war  closed,  a  vast  reinforcement  to  the  cause  of 
liberty  spread  itself  over  France,  by  the  return  of  the  French 
officers  and  soldiers.  A  knowledge  of  the  practice  was  then 
joined  to  the  theory  ;  and  all  that  was  wanting  to  give  it  real 
existence,  was  opportunity.  Man  cannot,  properly  speaking, 
make  circumstances  for  his  purpose,  but  he  always  has  it  in  his 
.power  to  improve  them  when  they  occur:  and  this  was  the 
case  in  France. 

M.  Neckar  was  displaced  in  May,  1781 :  and  by  the  ill  man- 


80  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

agement  of  the  finances  afterward,  and  particularly  during  the 
extravagant  administration  of  M.  Calonne,  the  revenue  of 
France,  which  was  nearly  twenty-four  millions  sterling  per 
year,  was  become  unequal  to  the  expenditures,  not  because 
the  revenue  had  decreased,  but  because  the  expenses  had 
increased,  and  this  was  the  circumstance  which  the  nation 
laid  hold  of  to  bring  forward  a  revolution.  The  English  min- 
ister, Mr.  Pitt,  has  frequently  alluded  to  the  state  of  the 
French  finances  in  his  budgets,  without  understanding  the 
subject.  Had  the  French  parliaments  been  as  ready  to 
register  edicts  for  new  taxes,  as  an  English  parliament  is  to 
grant  them,  there  had  been  no  derangement  in  the  finances, 
nor  yet  any  revolution  ;  but  this  will  better  explain  itself  as  I 
proceed. 

It  will  be  necessary  here  to  show  how  taxes  were  formerly 
raised  in  France.  The  king,  or  rather  the  court  or  ministry, 
acting  under  the  use  of  that  name,  framed  the  edicts  for  taxes 
at  their  own  discretion,  and  sent  them  to  the  parliaments  to 
be  registered  ;  for,  until  they  were  registered  by  the  parlia- 
ments, they  were  not  operative.  Disputes  had  long  existed 
between  the  court  and  the  parliament  with  respect  to  the  ex- 
tent of  the  parliament's  authority  on  this  head.  The  court 
insisted  that  the  authority  of  parliament  went  no  farther  than 
to  remonstrate  or  show  reasons  against  the  tax,  reserving  to 
itself  the  right  of  determining  whether  the  reasons  were  well 
or  ill  founded ;  and  in  consequence  thereof,  either  to  with- 
draw the  edict  as  a  matter  of  choice,  or  to  order  it  to  be 
registered  as  a  matter  of  authority.  The  parliaments  on 
their  parts  insisted,  that  they  had  not  only  a  right  to  remon- 
strate, but  to  reject ;  and  on  this  ground  they  were  always 
supported  by  the  nation. 

But  to  return  to  the  order  of  my  narrative :  M.  Calonne 
wanted  money ;  and  as  he  knew  the  sturdy  disposition  of 
the  parliaments  with  respect  to  new  taxes,  he  ingeniously 
sought  either  to  approach  them  by  a  more  gentle  means  than 
that  of  direct  authority,  or  to  get  over  their  heads  by  a  ma- 
noevre  ;  and  for  this  purpose  he  revived  the  project  of  assem- 
bling a  body  of  men  from  the  several  provinces,  under  the 
style  of  an  *  assembly  of  the  notables,'  or  men  of  note,  who 
met  in  1787,  and  were  either  to  recommend  taxes  to  the  par- 
liaments or  to  act  as  a  parliament  themselves.  An  assembly 
under  this  name  had  been  called  in  1687. 

As  we  are  to  view  this  as  the  first  practical  step  toward  the 
revolution,  it  will  be  proper  to  enter  into  some  particulars  re- 
specting it.  The  assembly  of  the  notables  has  in  some  places 
been  mistaken  for  the  states-general,  but  was  wholly  a  differ- 
ent body ;  the  states-general  being  always  by  election.  The 
persons  who  composed  the  assembly  of  the  notables  were  all 
nominated  by  the  king,  and  consisted  of  one  hundred  and 


STEPS  TO  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  81 

forty  members.  But  as  M.  Calonne  could  not  depend  upon  a 
majority  of  this  assembly  in  his  favor,  he  very  ingeniously 
arranged  them  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  forty-four  a  ma- 
jority of  one  hundred  and  forty*  To  effect  this,  he  disposed 
of  them  into  seven  separate  committees  of  twenty  members 
each.  Every  general  question  was  to  be  decided,  not  by  a 
majority  of  persons,  but  by  a  majority  of  committees;  and, 
as  eleven  votes  would  make  a  majority  in  a  committee,  and 
four  committees  a  majority  of  seven,  M.  Calonne  had  good 
reason  to  conclude,  that  as  forty-four  would  determine  any 
general  question,  he  could  not  be  outvoted.  But  all  his  plans 
deceived  him,  and  in  the  event  became  his  overthrow. 

The  then  Marquis  de  la  Fayette  was  placed  in  the  second 
committee,  of  which  Count  d'Artois  was  president ;  and  as 
money  matters  was  the  object,  it  naturally  brought  into  view 
every  circumstance  connected  with  it.  M.  de  la  Fayette 
made  a  verbal  charge  against  Calonne,  for  selling  crown-land 
to  the  amount  of  two  millions  of  livres,  in  a  manner  that  ap- 
peared to  be  unknown  to  the  king.  The  Count  d'Artois  (as 
if  to  intimidate,  for  the  bastile  was  then  in  being)  asked  the 
marquis  if  he  would  render  the  charge  in  writing.  He  replied 
that  he  would.  The  Count  d'Artois  did  not  demand  it,  but 
brought  a  message  from  the  king  to  that  purport.  M.  de  la 
Fayette  then  delivered  in  his  charge  in  writing,  to  be  given 
to  the  king,  undertaking  to  support  it.  No  farther  proceed- 
ings were  had,  upon  this  affair  but  M.  Calonne  was  soon  after 
dismissed  by  the  king,  and  went  to  England. 

As  M.  de  la  Fayette,  from  the  experience  he  had  had  in 
America,  was  better  acquainted  with  the  science  of  civil  gov- 
ernment than  the  generality  of  the  members  who  composed 
the  assembly  of  the  notables  could  then  be,  the  brunt  of  the 
business  fell  considerably  to  his  share.  The  plan  of  those 
who  had  a  constitution  in  view  was  to  contend  with  the  court 
on  the  ground  of  taxes,  and  some  of  them  openly  professed 
their  object.  Disputes  frequently  arose  between  Count  d'Ar- 
tois and  M.  de  la  Fayette  upon  various  subjects.  With  respect 
to  the  arrears  already  incurred,  the  latter  proposed  to  remedy 
them,  by  acommodating  the  expenses  to  the  revenue,  instead 
of  the  revenue  to  the  expenses ;  and  as  objects  of  reform,  he 
proposed  to  abolish  the  bastile,  and  all  the  state-prisons 
throughout  the  nation  (the  keeping  of  which  was  attended 
with  great  expense)  and  to  suppress  httres  de  cachet ;  but 
those  matters  were  not  then  much  attended  to  ;  and  with  re- 
spect to  lettres  de  cachet ',  a  majority  of  the  nobles  appeared  to 
be  in  favor  of  them. 

On  the  subject  of  supplying  the  treasury  by  new  taxes,  the 
assembly  declined  taking  the  matter  on  themselves,  concur- 
ring in  the  opinion  that  they  had  not  authority.  In  a  debate 
on  the  subject,  M.  de  la  Fayette  said,  that  raising  money  by 

11 


82  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

taxes  could  only  be  done  by  a  national  assembly,  freely  elect- 
ed by  the  people,  and  acting  as  their  representatives.  *  Do 
you  mean,'  said  the  Count  d'Artois,  '  the  states-general  V  M. 
de  la  Fayette  replied  that  he  did.  *  Will  you,'  said  the  Count 
d'Artois,  '  sign  what  you  say,  to  be  given  to  the  king  V  The 
other  replied  that  he  not  only  would  do  this,  but  that  he 
he  would  go  farther,  and  say,  that  the  effectual  mode  would 
be,  for  the  king  to  agree  to  the  establishment  of  a  constitution. 

As  one  of  the  plans  had  thus  failed,  that  of  getting  the  as- 
sembly to  act  as  a  parliament,  the  other  came  into  view,  that 
of  recommending.  On  this  subject,  the  assembly  agreed  to 
recommend  two  new  taxes  to  be  enregistered  by  the  parlia- 
ment, the  one  a  stamp-act,  and  the  other  a  territorial  tax,  or 
sort  of  land  tax.  The  two  have  been  estimated  at  about  five 
millions  sterling  per  annum.  We  have  now  to  turn  our  atten- 
tion to  the  parliaments,  on  whom  the  business  was  again  de- 
volving. 

The  archbishop  of  Thoulouse  (since  archbishop  of  Sens, 
and  now  a  cardinal)  was  appointed  to  the  administration  of 
the  finances,  soon  after  the  dismission  of  Calonne.  He  was 
also  made  prime  minister,  an  officer  that  did  not  always  exist 
in  France.  When  this  office  did  not  exist,  the  chief  of  each 
of  the  principal  departments  transacted  business  immediately 
with  the  king  ;  but  when  a  prime  minister  was  appointed,  they 
did  business  only  with  him.  The  archbishop  arrived  to  more 
state  authority  than  any  minister  since  the  Duke  de  Choiseuil, 
and  the  nation  was  strongly  disposed  in  his  favor ;  but  by  a 
line  of  conduct  scarcely  to  be  accounted  for,  he  perverted  ev- 
ery opportunity,  turned  out  a  despot,  and  sunk  into  disgrace, 
and  a  cardinal. 

The  assembly  of  the  notables  having  broke  up,  the  new 
minister  sent  the  edicts  for  the  two  new  taxes  recommend- 
ed by  the  assembly  to  the  parliaments,  to  be  enregistered 
They  of  course  came  first  before  the  parliament  of  Paris, 
who  returned  for  answer,  that,  with  such  a  revenue  as  the  na- 
tion then  supported,  the  name  of  taxes  ought  not  to  be  mentioned, 
but  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  them,  and  threw  both  the  edicts 
out.* 

On  this  refusal,  the  parliament  was  ordered  to  Versailles, 
where,  in  the  usual  form,  the  king  held,  what  under  the  old 
government  was  called  a  bed  of  justice  :  and  the  two  edicts 
were  enregistered  in  presence  of  the  parliament,  by  an  order 
of  state.  On  this,  the  parliament  immediately  returned  to 
Paris,  renewed  their  session  in  form,  and  ordered  the  enregis- 
tering  to  be  struck  out,  declaring  that  everything  done  at  Ver- 
sailles was  illegal.  All  the  members  of  parliament  were  then 
served  with  lettres  de  cachet,  and  exiled  to  Trois  ;  but  as  they 

*  When  the  English  minister.  Mr.  Pitt,  mentions  the  French  finances  a^ain  in 
the  English  parliament,  it  would  be  well  that  he  noticed  this  as  an  example. 


STEPS  TO  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  83 

continued  as  inflexible  in  exile  as  before,  and  as  vengeance  did 
not  supply  the  place  of  taxes,  they  were  after  a  short  time 
recalled  to  Paris. 

The  edicts  were  again  tendered  to  them,  and  the  Count 
d'Artois  undertook  to  act  as  representative  for  the  king.  For 
this  purpose,  he  came  from  Versailles  to  Paris,  in  a  train  of 
procession  ;  and  the  parliament  was  assembled  to  receive  him. 
But  show  and  parade  had  lost  their  influence  in  France  ;  and 
whatever  ideas  of  importance  he  might  set  off  with,  he  had 
to  return  with  those  of  mortification  and  disappointment. 
On  alighting  from  his  carriage  to  ascend  the  steps  of  the  par- 
liament-house, the  crowd  (which  was  numerously  collected) 
threw  out  trite  expressions,  saying :  '  This  is  Monsieur  d'Ar- 
tois, who  wants  more  of  our  money  to  spend.'  The  marked 
disapprobation  which  he  saw,  impressed  him  with  apprehen- 
sions ;  and  the  word  aux  arms  (to  arms)  was  given  out  by  the 
officer  of  the  guard  who  attended  him.  It  was  so  loudly  vo- 
ciferated, that  it  echoed  through  the  avenues  of  the  house, 
and  produced  a  temporary  confusion :  I  was  then  standing  in 
one  of  the  apartments  through  which  he  had  to  pass,  and 
could  not  avoid  reflecting  how  wretched  is  the  condition  of  a 
disrespected  man. 

He  endeavored  to  impress  the  parliament  by  great  words, 
and  opened  his  authority  by  saying  :  l  The  king  our  lord  and 
master.'  The  parliament  received  him  very  coolly,  and  with 
their  usual  determination  not  to  register  the  taxes j  and  in 
this  manner  the  interview  ended. 

After  this  a  new  subject  took  place  ;  in  the  various  debates 
and  contests  that  arose  between  the  court  and  the  parliaments 
on  the  subject  of  taxes,  the  parliament  of  Paris  at  last  declar- 
ed, that  although  it  had  been  customary  for  parliaments  to 
enregister  edicts  for  taxes  as  a  matter  of  convenience,  the 
right  belonged  only  to  the  states-general ;  and  that,  therefore, 
the  parliaments  could  no  longer  with  propriety  continue  to 
debate  on  what  it  had  not  authority  to  act.  The  king,  after 
this,  came  to  Paris,  and  held  a  meeting  with  the  parliament, 
in  which  he  continued  from  ten  in  the  morning  till  about  six 
in  the  evening ;  and,  in  a  manner  that  appeared  to  proceed 
from  him,  as  if  unconsulted  upon  with  the  cabinet  or  minis- 
trv5  gave  his  word  to  the  parliament  that  the  states-general 
should  be  convened. 

But  after  this,  another  scene  arose,  on  a  ground  different 
from  all  the  former.  The  minister  and  the  cabinet  were 
averse  to  calling  the  states-general:  they  well  knew,  that  if 
the  states-general  were  assembled,  that  themselves  must  fall; 
and  as  the  king  had  not  mentioned  any  time,  they  hit  on  a 
project  calculated  to  elude,  without  appearing  to  oppose. 

For  this  purpose,  the  court  set  about  making  a  sort  of  con- 
stitution itself:  it  was  principally  the  work  of  M.  Lamoignon, 


S4f  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE.     ' 

keeper  of  the  seals,  who  afterward  shot  himself.  The  ar- 
rangement consisted  in  establishing  a  body  under  the  name  of 
a  cour  pleniere,  or  full  court,  in  which  were  invested  all  the 
power  that  the  government  might  have  occasion  to  make  use 
of.  The  persons  composing  this  court  to  be  nominated  by  the 
king  ;  the  contended  right  of  taxation  was  given  up  on  the 
part  of  the  king,  and  a  new  criminal  code  of  laws,  and  law 
proceedings,  was  substituted  in  the  room  of  the  former. 
The  thing,  in  many  points,  contained  better  principles  than 
those  upon  which  the  government  had  hitherto  been  adminis- 
tered ;  but,  with  respect  to  the  cour  pleniere,  it  was  no  other 
than  a  medium  through  which  despotism  was  to  pass,  without 
appearing  to  act  directly  from  itself. 

The  cabinet  had  high  expectations  from  their  new  contri- 
vance. The  persons  who  were  to  compose  the  cour  pleniere 
were  already  nominated ;  and  as  it  was  necessary  to  carry  a 
fair  appearance^  many  of  the  best  characters  in  the  nation 
were  appointed  among  the  number.  It  was  to  commence  on 
the  eighth  of  May,  1788 :  but  an  opposition  arose  to  it,  on  two 
grounds — the  one  as  to  principle,  the  other  as  to  form. 

On  the  ground  of  principle  it  was  contended,  that  govern- 
ment had  not  a  right  to  alter  itself ;  and  that  if  the  practice 
was  once  admitted,  it  would  grow  into  a  principle,  and  be 
made  a  precedent  for  any  future  alterations  the  government 
might  wish  to  establish  ;  that  the  right  of  altering  the  govern- 
ment was  a  national  right,  and  not  a  right  of  government. 
And  on  the  ground  of  form,  it  was  contended  that  the  cour 
pleniere  was  nothing  more  than  a  large  cabinet. 

The  then  Dukes  de  la  Rochefoucault,  Luxembourg,  de  Noa- 
illes,  and  many  others,  refused  to  accept  the  nomination,  and 
strenuously  opposed  the  whole  plan.  When  the  edict  for 
establishing  this  new  court  was  sent  to  the  parliaments  to  be 
enregistered,  and  put  into  execution,  they  resisted  also.  The 
parliament  of  Paris  not  only  refused,  but  denied  the  authority  ; 
and  the  contest  renewed  itself  between  the  parliament  and  the 
cabinet  more  strongly  than  ever.  While  the  parliament  was 
sitting  in  debate  on  this  subject,  the  ministry  ordered  a  regi- 
ment of  soldiers  to  surround  the  house,  and  form  a  blockade. 
The  members  sent  out  for  beds  and  provision,  and  lived  as  in 
a  besieged  citadel ;  and  as  this  had  no  effect,  the  command- 
ing officer  was  ordered  to  enter  the  parliament-house  and 
seize  them,  which  he  did,  and  some  of  the  principal  members 
were  shut  up  in  different  prisons.  About  the  same  time  a  dep- 
utation of  persons  arrived  from  the  province  of  Britanny,  to 
remonstrate  against  the  establishment  of  the  cour  pleniere^ 
and  those  the  archbishop  sent  to  the  bastile.  But  the  spirit 
of  the  nation  was  not  to  be  overcome ;  and  it  was  so  fully 
sensible  of  the  strong  ground  it  had  taken,  that  of  withhold- 
ing taxes,  that  it  contented  itself  with  keeping  up  a  sort  of 


STEPS  TO  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  85 

quiet  resistance,  which  effectually  overthrew  all  the  plans  at 
that  time  formed  against  it.  The  project  of  the  cour  pleniere 
was  at  last  obliged  to  be  given  up,  and  the  prime  minister  not 
long  afterward  followed  its  fate  :  and  M.  Neckar  was  recalled 
into  office. 

The  attempt  to  establish  the  cour  pleniere  had  an  effect 
upon  the  nation  which  was  not  anticipated.  It  was  a  sort 
of  new  form  of  government,  that  insensibly  served  to  put  the 
old  one  out  of  sight,  and  to  unhinge  it  from  the  superstitious 
authority  of  antiquity.  It  was  government  dethroning  gov- 
ernment ;  and  the  old  one,  by  attempting  to  make  a  new  one, 
made  a  chasm. 

The  failure  of  this  scheme  renewed  the  subject  of  conve- 
ning the  states^general ;  and  this  gave  rise  to  a  new  series  of 
politics.  There  was  no  settled  form  for  convening  the  states- 
general  :  all  that  it  positively  meant  was  a  deputation  from 
what  was  then  called  the  clergy,  the  nobility,  and  the  com- 
mons ;  but  their  numbers,  or  their  proportions,  had  not  always 
been  the  same.  They  had  been  convened  only  on  extraordi- 
nary occasions,  the  last  of  which  was  in  1614;  their  numbers 
were  then  in  equal  proportions,  and  they  voted  by  orders. 

It  could  not  well  escape  the  sagacity  of  M.  Neckar,  that  the 
mode  of  1614  would  answer  neither  the  purpose  of  the  then 
government,  nor  of  the  nation.  As  matters  were  at  that  time 
circumstanced,  it  would  have  been  too  contentious  to  argue 
upon  anything.  The  debates  would  have  been  endless  upon 
privileges  and  exemptions,  in  which  neither  the  wants  of  the 
government,  nor  the  wishes  of  the  nation  for  a  constitution, 
would  have  been  attended  to.  But  as  he  did  not  choose  to 
take  the  decision  upon  himself,  he  summoned  again  the 
assembly  of  the  notables,  and  referred  it  to  them.  This  body  was 
in  general  interested  in  the  decision,  being  chiefly  of  the 
aristocracy  and  the  high-paid  clergy ;  and  they  decided  in 
favor  of  the  mode  of  1614.  This  decision  was  against 
the  sense  of  the  nation,  and  also  against  the  wishes  of  the 
court ;  for  the  aristocracy  opposed  itself  to  both,  and  con- 
tended for  privileges  independent  of  either.  The  subject  was 
then  taken  up  by  the  parliament,  who  recommended  that  the 
number  of  the  commons  should  be  equal  to  the  other  two  ; 
and  that  they  should  all  sit  in  one  house  and  vote  in  one  body. 
The  number  finally  determined  on  was  twelve  hundred :  six 
hundred  were  to  be  chosen  by  the  commons  (and  this  was 
less  than  their  proportion  ought  to  have  been  when  their 
worth  and  consequence  are  considered  on  a  national  scale), 
three  hundred  by  the  clergy,  and  three  hundred  by  the  aris- 
tocracy ;  but  with  respect  to  the  mode  of  assembling  them- 
selves, whether  together  or  apart,  or  the  manner  in  which 
they  should  vote,  those  matters  were  referred.* 

*  Mr.  Burke  (and  I  must  take  the  liberty  of  telling  him  that  he  is  unacquaint- 
ed with  French  affairs),  speaking  upon  this  subject  says,  '  The  first  thing  that 


86  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

The  election  that  followed  was  not  a  contested  election, 
but  an  animated  one.  The  candidates  were  not  men  but  prin- 
ciples. Societies  were  formed  in  Paris,  and  committees  of 
correspondence  and  communication  established  throughout 
the  nation,  for  the  purpose  of  enlightening  the  people,  and 
explaining  to  them  the  principles  of  civil  government ;  and  so 
orderly  was  the  election  conducted,  that  it  did  not  give  rise 
even  to  the  rumor  of  tumult. 

The  states-general  were  to  meet  at  Versailles  in  April,  1789, 
but  did  not  assemble  till  May.  They  situated  themselves  in 
three  separate  chambers,  or  rather  the  clergy  and  the  aris- 
tocracy withdrew  each  into  a  separate  chamber.  The  major- 
ity of  the  aristocracy  claimed  what  they  called  the  privilege 
of  voting  as  a  separate  body,  and  of  giving  their  consent  or 
their  negative  in  that  manner ;  and  many  of  the  bishops  and 
the  high-beneficed  clergy  claimed  the  same  privilege  on  the 
part  of  their  order. 

The  tiers  etat  (as  they  were  called)  disowned  any  knowledge 
of  artificial  orders  and  artificial  privileges  ;  and  they  were 
not  only  resolute  on  this  point,  but  somewhat  disdainful. 
They  began  to  consider  aristocracy  as  a  kind  of  fungus  grow- 
ing out  of  the  corruption  of  society,  that  could  not  be  admit- 
ted even  as  a  branch  of  it ;  and  from  the  disposition  the  aris- 
tocracy had  shown,  by  upholding  lettres  de  cachet,  and  in 
sundry  other  instances,  it  was  manifest  that  no  constitution 
could  be  formed  by  admitting  men  in  any  other  character 
than  as  national  men. 

After  various  altercations  on  this  head,  the  tiers  etat,  or 
commons  (as  they  were  then  called),  declared  themselves  (on 
a  motion  made  for  that  purpose  by  the  Abbe  Sieyes)  '  THE 
REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE  NATION  ;  and  that  the  two  orders  could 
be  considered  but  as  deputies  of  corporations,  and  could  only 
have  a  deliberative  voice  but  when  they  assembled  in  a  national 

struck  me  in  calling  the  stales-general  was  a  great  departure  from  the  ancient 
course ;'  and  he  soon  after  says,  '  From  the  moment  I  read  the  list,  I  saw  dis- 
tinctly, and  very  nearly  as  it  has  happened,  all  that  was  to  follow.'  Mr.  Burke  cer- 
tainly did  not  see  all  that  was  to  follow.  I  have  endeavored  to  impress  him,  as 
well  before  as  after  the  states-general  met,  that  there  wonld  be  a  revolution  ; 
but  was  not  able  to  make  him  see  it,  neither  would  he  believe  it.  How,  then,  he 
could  distinctly  see  all  the  parts,  when  the  whole  was  out  of  sight,  is  beyond  my 
comprehension.  And  with  respect  to  the  '  departure  from  the  ancient  course,' 
beside  the  natural  weakness  of  the  remark,  it  shows  that  he  is  unacquainted 
with  circumstances.  The  departure  was  necessary,  from  the  experience  had 
upon  it,  that  the  ancient  course  was  a  bad  one.  The  states-general  of  1614  were 
called  at  the  commencement  of  the  civil  war  in  the  minority  of  Louis  XIII. ;  but 
by  the  clash  of  arranging  them  by  orders,  they  increased  the  confusion  they  were 
called  to  compose.  The  author  of  VIntrigue  du  Cabinet  (Intrigue  of  the  Cab- 
inet), who  wrote  before  any  revolution  was  thought  of  in  France,  speaking  of  the 
states-general  of  1614  says:  'They  held  the  public  in  suspense  five  months; 
and  by  the  questions  agitated  therein,  and  the  heat  with  which  they  were  put,  it 
appears  that  the  great  (lee  grandes)  thought  more  to  satisfy  their  particular 
passions  than  to  procure  the  good  of  the  nation  ;  and  the  whole  time  passed 
away  in  altercations,  ceremonies,  and  parade.' — ^I'lntrigue  du  Cabinet,'  vol.  i.» 
p.  329. 


STEPS  TO  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  87 

character  with  the  national  representatives?  This  proceeding 
extinguished  the  style  of  etats  generaux,  or  states-general,  and 
erected  it  into  the  style  it  now  bears,  that  of  Vassemble  na- 
tionale,  or  national  assembly. 

This  motion  was  not  made  in  a  precipitate  manner :  it  was 
the  result  of  cool  deliberation,  and  concerted  between  the 
national  representatives  and  the  patriotic  members  of  the  two 
chambers,  who  saw  into  the  folly,  mischief,  and  injustice  of 
artificial  privileged  distinctions.  It  was  become  evident  that 
no  constitution,  worthy  of  being  called  by  that  name,  could 
be  established  on  anything  less  than  a  national  ground.  The 
aristocracy  had  hitherto  opposed  the  despotism  of  the  court, 
and  affected  the  language  of  patriotism  ;  but  it  opposed  it  as 
its  rival  (as  the  English  barons  opposed  King  John)  ;  and  it 
now  opposed  the  nation  from  the  same  motives. 

On  carrying  this  motion  the  national  representatives,  as 
had  been  concerted,  sent  an  invitation  to  the  two  chambers, 
to  unite  with  them  in  a  national  character,  and  proceed  to 
business.  A  majority  of  the  clergy,  chiefly  of  the  parish- 
priests,  withdrew  from  the  clerical  chamber  and  joined  the 
nation ;  and  forty-five  from  the  other  chamber  joined  in  like 
manner.  There  is  a  sort  of  secret  history  belonging  to  this 
last  circumstance,  which  is  necessary  to  its  explanation :  it 
was  not  judged  prudent  that  all  the  patriotic  members  of  the 
chamber,  styling  itself  the  nobles,  should  quit  it  at  once ;  and 
in  consequence  of  this  arrangement,  they  drew  off  by  degrees, 
always  leaving  some,  as  well  to  reason  the  case,  as  to  watch 
the  suspected.  In  a  little  time  the  numbers  increased  from 
forty-five  to  eighty,  and  soon  after  to  a  greater  number  ; 
which,  with  a  majority  of  the  clergy,  and  the  whole  of  the 
national  representatives,  put  the  malcontents  in  a  very  dimin- 
utive condition. 

The  king,  who,  very  different  to  the  general  class  called  by 
that  name,  is  a  man  of  a  good  heart,  showed  himself  disposed 
to  recommend  a  union  of  the  three  chambers,  on  the  ground 
the  national  assembly  had  taken ;  but  the  malcontents  exerted 
themselves  to  prevent  it,  and  began  now  to  have  another  pro- 
ject in  view.  Their  numbers  consisted  of  a  majority  of  the 
aristocratical  chamber,  and  a  minority  of  the  clerical  cham- 
ber, chiefly  of  bishops  and  high-beneficed  clergy ;  and  these 
men  were  determined  to  put  everything  to  issue,  as  well  by 
strength  as  by  stratagem.  They  had  no  objection  to  a  con- 
stitution ;  but  it  must  be  such  a  one  as  themselves  should 
dictate,  and  suited  to  their  own  views  and  particular  situations. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  nation  disowned  knowing  anything  of 
them  but  as  citizens,  and  was  determined  to  shut  out  all  such 
upstart  pretensions.  The  more  aristocracy  appeared,  the 
more  it  was  despised ;  there  -was  a  visible  imbecility  and 
want  of  intellect  in  the  majority,  a  sort  of  je  ne  sais  quoi,  that 


88  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

while  it  affected  to  be  more  than  citizen  was  less  than  man. 
It  lost  ground  more  from  contempt  than  from  hatred  ;  and 
was  rather  jeered  at  as  an  ass  than  dreaded  as  a  lion.  This 
is  the  general  character  of  aristocracy,  or  what  are  called  no- 
bles or  nobility,  or  rather  no-ability,  in  all  countries. 

The  plan  of  the  malcontents  consisted  now  of  two  things  ; 
either  to  deliberate  and  vote  by  chambers  (or  orders),  more 
especially  on  all  questions  respecting  a  constitution  (by 
which  the  aristocratical  chamber  would  have  had  a  negative 
on  any  article  of  the  constitution),  or,  in  case  they  could  not 
accomplish  this  object,  to  overthrow  the  national  assembly 
entirely. 

To  effect  one  or  the  other  of  thes^e  objects,  they  began  now 
to  cultivate  a  friendship  with  the  despotism  they  had  hitherto 
attempted  to  rival,  and  the  Count  d'Artois  became  their  chief. 
The  king  (who  has  since  declared  himself  deceived  into  their 
measures)  held,  according  to  the  old  form,  a  bed  of  justice^  in 
which  he  accorded  to  the  deliberation  and  vote  par  tete  (by 
head)  upon  several  objects ;  but  reserved  the  deliberation  and 
vote,  upon  all  questions  respecting  a  constitution,  to  the 
three  chambers  separately.  This  declaration  of  the  king  was 
made  against  the  advice  of  M.  Neckar,  who  now  began  to  per- 
ceive that  he  was  growing  out  of  fashion  at  court,  and  that 
another  minister  was  in  contemplation. 

As  the  form  of  sitting  in  separate  chambers  was  yet  appa- 
rently kept  up,  though  essentially  destroyed,  the  national  rep- 
resentatives, immediately  after  this  declaration  of  the  king, 
resorted  to  their  own  chambers  to  consult  on  a  protest  against 
it ;  and  the  minority  of  the  chamber  (calling  itself  the  nobles) 
who  had  joined  the  national  cause,  retired  to  a  private  house 
to  consult  in  like  manner.  The  malcontents  had  by  this  time 
concerted  their  measures  with  the  court,  which  count  d'Ar- 
tois undertook  to  conduct :  and  as  they  saw,  from  the  discon- 
tent which  the  declaration  excited,  and  the  opposition  making 
against  it,  that  they  could  not  obtain  a  control  over  the  in- 
tended constitution  by  a  separate  vote,  they  prepared  them- 
selves for  their  final  object ;  that  of  conspiring  against  the 
national  assembly  and  overthrowing  it. 

The  next  morning  the  door  of  the  chamber  of  the  national 
assembly  was  shut  against  them,  and  guarded  by  troops,  and 
the  members  were  refused  admittance.  On  this  they  with- 
drew to  a  tennis-ground,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Versailles,  as 
the  most  convenient  place  they  could  find ;  and,  after  renew- 
ing their  session,  took  an  oath  never  to  separate  from  each 
other  under  any  circumstances  whatever,  death  excepted, 
until  they  had  established  a  constitution.  As  the  experiment 
of  shutting  up  the  house  had  no  other  effect  than  that  of  pro- 
ducing a  closer  connexion  in  the  members,  it  was  opened 


STEPS  IN  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.  89 

again  the  next  day,  and  the  public  business  recommenced  in 
the  usual  place. 

We  are  now  to  have  in  view  the  forming  of  the  new  minis- 
try, which  was  to  accomplish  the  overthrow  of  the  national 
assembly.  But  as  force  would  be  necessary,  orders  were 
issued  to  assemble  thirty  thousand  troops,  the  command  of 
which  was  given  to  Broglio,  one  of  the  new-intended  ministry, 
who  was  recalled  from  the  country  for  this  purpose.  But  as 
some  management  was  necessary  to  keep  this  plan  concealed 
till  the  moment  it  should  be  ready  for  execution,  it  is  to  this 
policy  that  a  declaration  made  by  Count  d'Artois  must  be  at- 
tributed, and  which  is  here  proper  to  be  introduced. 

It  could  not  but  occur  that  while  the  malcontents  continued 
to  resort  to  their  chambers  separate  from  the  national  assem- 
bly, that  more  jealousy  would  be  excited  than  if  they  were 
mixed  with  it,  and  that  the  plot  might  be  suspected :  but  as 
they  had  taken  their  ground,  and  now  wanted  a  pretence  for 
quitting  it,  it  was  necessary  that  one  should  be  devised.  This 
was  effectually  accomplished  by  a  declaration  made  by  Count 
d'Artois,  that  '  if  they  took  not  a  part  in  the  national  assembly  ^ 
the  life  of  the  king  would  be  endangered  ;'  on  which  they  quit- 
ted their  chambers  and  mixed  with  the  assembly  in  one  body. 

At  the  time  this  declaration  was  made,  it  was  generally 
treated  as  a  piece  of  absurdity  in  Count  d'Artois,  and  calcu- 
lated merely  to  relieve  the  outstanding  members  of  the  two 
chambers  from  the  diminutive  situation  they  were  put  in  ; 
and  if  nothing  more  had  followed  this  conclusion  would  have 
been  good.  But  as  things  best  explain  themselves  by  their 
events,  this  apparent  union  was  only  a  cover  to  the  machina- 
tions that  were  secretly  going  on  ;  and  the  declaration  accom- 
modated itself  to  answer  that  purpose.  In  a  little  time  the 
national  assembly  found  itself  surrounded  by  troops,  and 
thousands  daily  arriving.  On  this  a  very  strong  declaration 
was  made  by  the  national  assembly  to  the  king,  remonstrating 
on  the  impropriety  of  the  measure,  and  demanding  the  reason. 
The  king,  who  was  not  in  the  secret  of  this  business,  as  him- 
self afterward  declared,  gave  substantially  for  answer,  that  he 
had  no  other  object  in  view  than  to  preserve  public  tranquillity, 
which  appeared  to  be  much  disturbed. 

But  in  a  few  days  from  this  time  the  plot  unravelled  itself. 
M.  Neckar  and  the  ministry  were  displaced,  and  a  new  one 
formed  of  the  enemies  of  the  revolution  ;  and  Broglio,  with 
between  twenty-five  and  thirty  thousand  foreign  troops,  was 
arrived  to  support  them.  The  mask  was  now  thrown  off,  and 
matters  were  come  to  a  crisis.  The  event  was,  that  in  the 
space  of  three  days  the  new  ministry  and  their  abettors  found 
it  prudent  to  fly  the  nation  ;  the  bastile  was  taken,  and  Brog- 
lio and  his  foreign  troops  dispersed,  as  is  already  related  in  a 
former  part  of  this  work." 


90  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

We  shall  now  introduce  Mr.  Paine's  description  of  the 
taking  of  the  bastile,  and  then  proceed  with  his  life,  or  his 
connexion  with  these  events  and  their  consequences. 

"  The  mind  can  hardly  picture  to  itself  a  more  tremendous 
scene  than  which  the  city  of  Paris  exhibited  at  the  time  of 
taking  the  bastile,  and  for  two  days  before  and  after,  nor 
conceive  the  possibility  of  its  quieting  so  soon.  At  a  distance, 
this  transaction  has  appeared  only  as  an  act  of  heroism  stand- 
ing on  itself:  and  the  close  political  connexion  it  had  with 
the  revolution  is  lost  in  the  brilliancy  of  the  achievement. 
But  we  are  to  consider  it  as  the  strength  of  the  parties,  brought 
man  to  man,  and  contending  for  the  issue.  The  bastile  was 
to  be  either  the  prize  or  the  prison  of  the  assailants.  The 
downfall  of  it  included  the  idea  of  the  downfall  of  despotism  ; 
and  this  compounded  image  was  become  as  figuratively  united, 
as  Bunyan's  Doubting  Castle  and  giant  Despair. 

The  national  assembly  before  and  at  the  time  of  taking  the 
bastile,  was  sitting  at  Versailles,  twelve  miles  distant  from 
Paris.  About  a  week  before  the  rising  of  the  Parisians  and 
their  taking  the  bastile,  it  was  discovered  that  a  plot  was 
forming,  at  the  head  of  which  was  the  Count  d'Artois,  the 
king's  youngest  brother,  for  demolishing  the  national  assem- 
bly, seizing  its  members,  and  thereby  crushing,  by  a. coup  de 
main,  all  hopes  and  prospects  of  forming  a  free  government. 
For  the  sake  of  humanity,  as  well  as  of  freedom,  it  is  well  this 
plan  did  not  succeed.  Examples  are  not  wanting  to  show 
how  dreadfully  vindictive  and  cruel  are  all  old  governments, 
when  they  are  successful  against  what  they  call  a  revolt. 

This  plan  must  have  been  some  time  in  contemplation  ;  be- 
cause, in  order  to  carry  it  into  execution,  it  was  necessary  to 
collect  a  large  military  force  round  Paris,  and  to  cut  off  the 
communication  between  that  city  and  the  national  assembly 
at  Versailles.  The  troops  destined  for  this  service  were 
chiefly  the  foreign  troops  in  the  pay  of  France,  and  who,  for 
this  particular  purpose,  were  drawn  from  the  distant  provinces 
where  they  were  then  stationed.  When  they  were  collected, 
to  the  amount  of  between  twenty-five  and  thirty  thousand,  it 
was  judged  time  to  put  the  plan  into  execution.  The  minis- 
try who  were  then  in  office,  and  who  were  friendly  to  the 
revolution,  were  instantly  dismissed,  and  a  new  ministry 
formed  of  those  who  had  concerted  the  project: — among 
whom  was  Count  de  Broglio,  and  to  his  share  was  given  the 
command  of  those  troops.  The  character  of  this  man,  as 
described  to  me  in  a  letter  which  I  communicated  to  Mr. 
Burke  before  he  began  to  write  his  book,  and  from  an 
authority  which  Mr.  Burke  well  knows  was  good,  was  that  of 
4  a  high-flying  aristocrat,  cool,  and  capable  of  every  mischief.7 


TAKING    THE    BASTILE.  91 

While  these  matters  were  agitating,  the  national  assembly 
stood  in  the  most  perilous  and  critical  situation  that  a  body 
of  men  can  be  supposed  to  act  in.  They  were  the  devoted 
victims,  and  they  knew  it.  They  had  the  hearts  and  wishes 
of  their  country  on  their  side,  but  military  authority  they  had 
none.  The  guards  of  Broglio  surrounded  the  hall  where  the 
assembly  sat,  ready,  at  the  word  of  command,  to  seize  their 
persons,  as  had  been  done  the  year  before  to  the  parliament 
in  Paris.  Had  the  national  assembly  deserted  their  trust,  or 
had  they  exhibited  signs  of  weakness  or  fear,  their  enemies 
had  been  encouraged,  and  the  country  depressed.  When  the 
situation  they  stood  in,  the  cause  they  were  engaged  in,  and 
the  crisis  then  ready  to  burst  which  should  determine  their 
personal  and  political  fate,  and  that  of  their  country,  and 
probably  of  Europe,  are  taken  into  one  view,  none  but  a  heart 
callous  with  prejudice,  or  corrupted  by  dependance,  can  avoid 
interesting  itself  in  their  success. 

The  archbishop  of  Vienne  was  at  this  time  president  of  the 
national  assembly ;  a  person  too  old  to  undergo  the  scene  that 
a  few  days,  or  a  few  hours,  might  bring  forth.  A  man  of 
more  activity,  and  bolder  fortitude,  was  necessary ;  and  the 
national  assembly  chose  (under  the  form  of  vice-president,  for 
the  presidency  still  rested  in  the  archbishop)  M.  de  la  Fayette ; 
and  this  is  the  only  instance  of  a  vice-president  being  chosen. 
It  was  at  the  moment  this  storm  was  pending,  July  11,  that  a 
declaration  of  rights  was  brought  forward  by  M.  de  la  Fayette, 
and  is  the  same  which  is  before  alluded  to.  It  was  hastily 
drawn  up,  and  makes  only  a  part  of  a  more  extensive  declara- 
tion of  rights,  agreed  upon  and  adopted  afterward  by  the 
national  assembly.  The  particular  reason  for  bringing  it  for- 
ward at  this  moment  (M.  de  la  Fayette  has  since  informed  me) 
was,  that  if  the  national  assembly  should  fall  in  the  threatened 
destruction  that  then  surrounded  it,  some  trace  of  its  princi- 
ples might  have  a  chance  of  surviving  the  wreck.  . 

Everything  was  now  drawing  to  a  crisis.  The  event  was 
freedom  or  slavery.  On  one  side  an  army  of  nearly  thirty 
thousand  men  ;  on  the  other  an  unarmed  body  of  citizens,  for 
the  citizens  of  Paris  on  whom  the  national  assembly  must 
then  immediately  depend,  were  as  unarmed  and  undisciplined 
as  the  citizens  of  London  are  now.  The  French  guards  had 
given  strong  symptoms  of  their  being  attached  to  the  national 
cause ;  but  their  numbers  were  small,  not  a  tenth  part  of  the 
force  which  Broglio  commanded,  and  their  officers  were  in 
the  interest  of  Broglio. 

Matters  being  now  ripe  for  execution,  the  new  ministry 
made  their  appearance  in  office.  The  reader  will  carry  in  his 
mind,  that  the  bastile  was  taken  the  14th  of  July :  the  point 
of  time  I  am  now  speaking  to,  is  the  12th.  As  soon  as  the 
news  of  the  change  of  the  ministry  reached  Paris  in  the  after- 


92  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

noon,  all  the  play-houses  and  places  of  entertainment,  shops 
and  houses,  were  shut  up.  The  change  of  ministry  was  con- 
sidered as  the  prelude  of  hostilities,  and  the  opinion  was 
rightly  founded. 

The  foreign  troops  hegan  to  advance  toward  the  city.  The 
Prince  de  Lamhesc,  who  commanded  a  body  of  German  cav- 
alry, approached  by  the  palace  of  Louis  XV.  which  connects 
itself  with  some  of  the  streets.  In  his  march  he  insulted  and 
struck  an  old  man  with  his  sword.  The  French  are  remarka- 
ble for  their  respect  to  old  age,  and  the  insolence  with  which 
it  appeared  to  be  done,  uniting  with  the  general  fermentation 
they  were  in,  produced  a  powerful  effect,  and  a  cry  of  *  To  arms ! 
to  .arms  /'  spread  itself  in  a  moment  over  the  whole  city. 

Arms  they  had  none,  nor  scarcely  any  who  knew  the  use  of 
them ;  but  desperate  resolution,  when  every  hope  is  at  stake, 
supplies,  for  a  while,  the  want  of  arms.  Near  where  the 
Prince  de  Lambesc  was  drawn  up,  were  large  piles  of  stones 
collected  for  building  the  new  bridge,  and  with  these  the 
people  attacked  the  cavalry.  A  party  of  the  French  guards, 
upon  hearing  the  firing,  rushed  from  their  quarters  and  joined 
the  people  ;  and  night  coming  on,  the  cavalry  retreated. 

The  streets  of  Paris,  being  narrow,  are  favorable  for  defence; 
and  the  loftiness  of  the  houses,  consisting  of  many  stories, 
from  which  great  annoyance  might  be  given,  secured  them 
against  nocturnal  enterprises ;  and  the  night  was  spent  in 
providing  themselves  with  every  sort  of  weapon  they  could 
make  or  procure :  guns,  swords,  blacksmith's  hammers,  car- 
penters' axes,  iron  crows,  pikes,  halberds,  pitchforks,  spits, 
clubs,  &c. 

The  incredible  numbers  with  which  they  assembled  the  next 
morning,  and  the  still  more  incredible  resolution  they  exhibit- 
ed, embarrassed  and  astonished  their  enemies.  Little  did  the 
new  ministry  expect  such  a  salute.  Accustomed  to  slavery 
themselves,  they  had  no  idea  that  liberty  was  capable  of  such 
inspiration,  or  that  a  body  of  unarmed  citizens  would  dare  to 
face  the  military  force  of  thirty  thousand  men.  Every  mo- 
ment of  this  day  was  employed  in  collecting  arms,  concerting 
plans,  and  arranging  themselves  in  the  best  order  which  such 
an  instantaneous  movement  could  afford.  Broglio  continued 
lying  round  the  city,  but  made  no  farther  advances  this  day, 
and  the  succeeding  night  passed  with  as  much  tranquillity  as 
such  a  scene  could  possibly  produce. 

But  the  defence  only  was  not  the  object  of  the  citizens. 
They  had  a  cause  at  stake,  on  which  depended  their  freedom 
or  their  slavery.  They  every  moment  expected  an  attack,  or 
to  hear  of  one  made  on  the  national  assembly ;  and  in  such  a 
situation,  the  most  prompt  measures  are  sometimes  the  best. 
The  object  that  now  presented  itself,  was  the  bastile ;  and 
the  eclat  of  carrying  such  a  fortress  in  the  face  of  such  an 


TAKING    THE    BASTILE,  93 

army,  could  not  fail  to  strike  terror  into  the  new  ministry, 
who  had  scarcely  yet  had  time  to  meet.  By  some  intercept- 
ed correspondence  this  morning,  it  was  discovered  that  the 
mayor  of  Paris,  M.  de  Flessels,  who  appeared  to  he  in  their 
interest,  was  betraying  them ;  and  from  this  discovery  there 
remained  no  doubt  that  Broglio  would  reinforce  the  bastile 
the  ensuing  evening.  It  was  therefore  necessary  to  attack  it 
that  day ;  but  before  this  could  be  done,  it  was  first  necessary 
to  procure  a  better  supply  of  arms  than  they  were  then  pos- 
sessed of. 

There  was,  adjoining  to  the  city,  a  large  magazine  of  arms 
deposited  at  the  hospital  of  the  invalids,  which  the  citizens 
summoned  to  surrender  ;  and  as  the  place  was  not  defensible, 
nor  attempted  much  defence,  they  soon  succeeded.  Thus 
supplied,  they  marched  to  attack  the  bastile ;  a  vast  mixed 
multitude  of  all  ages  and  of  all  degrees,  and  armed  with  all 
sorts  of  weapons.  Imagination  would  fail  of  describing  to 
itself  the  appearance  of  such  a  procession,  and  of  the  anxiety 
for  the  events  which  a  few  hours  or  a  few  minutes  might  pro- 
duce. What  plans  the  ministry  was  forming,  were  as  un- 
known to  the  people  within  the  city,  as  what  the  citizens 
were  doing  was  unknown  to  them ;  and  what  movements 
Broglio  might  make  for  the  support  or  relief  of  the  place, 
were  to  the  citizens  equally  unknown.  All  was  mystery  and 
hazard. 

That  the  bastile  was  attacked  with  an  enthusiasm  of  hero- 
ism, such  only  as  the  highest  animation  of  liberty  could  in- 
spire, and  carried  in  the  space  of  a  few  hours,  is  an  event 
which  the  world  is  fully  possessed  of.  I  am  not  undertaking 
a  detail  of  the  attack,  but  bringing  into  view  the  conspiracy 
against  the  nation  which  provoked  it,  and  which  fell  with  the 
bastile.  The  prison  to  which  the  new  ministry  were  doom- 
ing the  national  assembly,  in  addition  to  its  being  the  high 
altar  and  castle  of  despotism,  became  the  proper  object  to 
begin  with.  This  enterprise  broke  up  the  new  ministry,  who 
began  now  to  fly  from  the  ruin  they  had  prepared  for  others. 
The  troops  of  Broglio  dispersed,  and  himself  fled  also." 

The  taking  of  the  bastile  by  a  mob  has  astonished  most 
persons  acquainted  with  that  fortress,  and  especially  military 
men,  who  know  the  obstacle  to  such  an  undertaking,  nor  was 
it  generally  understood  how  the  moat  was  passed,  or  the  draw- 
bridge let  down.  We  learn,  however,  from  Robert  Dale  Owen, 
who  had  the  information  from  La  Fayette,  that  the  chain  of 
the  draw-bridge  was  struck  by  a  well-aimed  cannon-ball,  or  per- 
haps by  a  chain-shot,  and  the  chain  or  chains  being  thus 


94<  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

broken,  the  bridge  fell,  the  mob  rushed  over,  and  effected  the 
rest  by  gallantry.     Sherwin  thus  speaks  on  this  subject  : — 

"  The  destruction  of  the  bastile,  and  the  universal  diffusion 
of  republican  principles  throughout  the  French  empire,  had 
rendered  that  country  a  singular  object  of  terror  to  the  English 
government.  The  mass  of  the  nation  saw  with  pleasure  the 
dawn  of  French  liberty,  while  the  majority  of  their  rulers  be- 
held it  as  a  treasonable  invasion  of  the  divine  rights  of  monar- 
chy. They  dreaded  the  spirit  of  inquiry  which  it  was  calcu- 
lated to  diffuse,  and  they  feared  that  the  government  of  Eng- 
land, matchless  and  enviable  as  it  was  represented,  would  gain 
no  credit  by  passing  through  the  ordeal  of  national  discussion. 
The  first  important  attack  that  was  made  upon  the  principles 
of  the  French  revolution  was  by  Mr.  Burke  at  the  opening  of 
parliament,  1790.  This  was  followed  by  an  advertisement  in 
several  of  the  newspapers,  stating  that  he  intended  shortly  to 
publish  his  opinions  on  the  subject  in  the  form  of  a  pamphlet. 
The  friends  of  liberty  in  this  country  were  astonished  at  the 
sudden  change  in  the  politics  of  Mr.  Burke,  as  he  had,  for  sev- 
eral years  previous,  and  particularly  during  the  American  war, 
been  considered  as  a  most  eloquent  and  sincere  advocate  of 
public  freedom.  But  it  was  shortly  discovered  that  he  had  re- 
ceived a  pension  of  three  thousand  pounds  a  year,  and  this  suf- 
ficiently explained  the  grounds  of  his  apostacy.  At  the  period 
of  his  parliamentry  attack  on  the  French  revolution,  he  corre- 
sponded with  Mr.  Paine,  and  so  totally  unexpected  was  his 
conduct,  that  the  latter  had  written  to  him  from  Paris  but  a 
few  weeks  before,  to  inform  him  how  prosperously  matters 
were  going  on.  When  the  advertisement  was  published  an- 
nouncing Mr.  Burke's  '  Reflections,'  Mr.  Paine  promised  the 
friends  of  the  French  revolution  that  he  would  answer  the  work 
whenever  it  appeared.  He  left  France  in  November,  1790,  hav- 
ing been  an  attentive  observer,  if  not  an  active  adviser,  of  the 
important  proceedings  which  had  taken  place  during  the  pre- 
ceding twelve  months.  Mr.  Burke's  book  appeared  soon  after 
his  arrival.  The  popularity  of  the  author  as  a  literary  charac- 
ter, the  exertions  of  the  government  and  its  agents  in  all  parts 
of  the  country,  the  flowery  and  impassioned  language  in  which 
the  historical  and  declamatory  parts  of  the  book  were  clothed, 
and  the  repeated  delays  which  had  retarded  its  appearance, 
and,  consequently,  increased  the  anxiety  of  the  public,  all  con- 
spired to  give  the  work  an  interest,  which  its  profligacy  of 
principle  and  perversity  of  sentiment  were  insufficient  to  over- 
come. The  mass  of  his  readers  were  captivated  by  his  elo- 
quence, and  but  a  few  took  the  trouble  to  reflect  on  the  distort- 
ed facts,  the  real  falsehoods,  and  the  egregious  absurdities, 
with  which  the  book  abounded. 


BURKE'S  APOSTACY — RIGHTS  OF  MAN.  95 

Mr.  Paine  lost  no  time  in  preparing  his  answer  to  the  work.  ^ 
In  less  than  three  months  he  produced  the  first  part  of  *  Rights  ^ 
of  Man,'  in  which  he  had  combated  and  confuted  the  greater 
portion  of  Mr.  Burke's  doctrines.  The  work  was  printed  in 
February,  1791,  for  Mr.  Johnson,  of  St.  Paul's  Church  Yard, 
but  on  looking  it  over  he  discovered  some  passages  which  he 
conceived  were  liable  to  be  prosecuted,  and  he  declined  the 
publication.  This  refusal,  which  was  altogether  unexpected, 
occasioned  a  month's  delay.  After  some  difficulty,  a  publish- 
er was  at  length  found  in  Mr.  Jordan,  at  No.  166,  Fleet  street, 
and  the  work  was  brought  out  on  the  13th  of  March,  1793. 

This  publication  had  a  two-fold  object  in  view  ; — firstly,  that 
of  rousing  the  attention  of  the  people  of  England  to  the  defects 
and  abuses  of  their  own  system  of  government ;  and  secondly, 
that  of  refuting  the  falsehoods  and  exaggerations  in  Mr.  Burke's  Y 
1  Reflections.'  Among  other  doctrines  equally  devoid  of  princi- 
ple, Mr.  Burke  had  published  a  commentary  on  the  proceedings 
of  the  parliament  of  1688,  in  which  he  had  argued  that  the  peo- 
ple of  England  were  bound  by  the  declaration  of  the  said  par- 
liament, who  had  consented  '  to  submit  themselves,  their  heirs 
and  posterities  for  ever,'  to  the  heirs  and  posterity  of  William 
and  Mary.  Mr.  Paine  argues,  that  whatever  right  the  parlia- 
ment might  have  to  submit  themselves,  they  had  not,  and  could 
not,  have  any  right  to  enter  into  any  agreement  or  contract  re- 
specting the  government  of posterity ,  for,  say  she, '  every  age  and 
generation  must  be  as  free  to  act  for  itself  in  all  cases,  as  the  ^/ 
age  and  generation  which  preceded  it."  A  more  self-evident 
position  than  this  could  not  have  been  advanced,  and  the  re- 
flections naturally  arising  from  it  were  quite  sufficient  to  over- 
turn the  absurd  conclusions  which  Mr.  Burke  had  drawn  from 
his  omnipotent  parliament  of  1688. 

Our  author  then  proceeds  to  refute  his  misrepresentations 
relative  to  the  French  revolution,  and  the  causes  of  it.  He 
enters  into  an  elaborate  detail  of  the  events  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  overthrow  of  the  ancient  despotism,  and  of  the  con-  ^ 
sequences  which  it  was  calculated  to  produce.  In  speaking 
of  the  destruction  of  the  bastile,  and  of  Mr.  Burke's  silence  on 
the  subject,  he  thus  beautifully  expresses  himself:  "  Not  one 
glance  of  compassion,  not  one  commiserating  reflection,  that 
I  can  find  throughout  his  book,  has  he  bestowed  on  those  who 
lingered  out  the  most  wretched  of  lives — a  life  without  hope 
in  the  most  miserable  of  prisons.  It  is  painful  to  behold  a  man 
employing  his  talents  to  corrupt  himself.  Nature  has  been 
kinder  to  Mr.  Burke  than  he  is  to  her.  He  is  not  affected  by 
the  reality  of  distress  touching  his  heart,  but  by  the  showy  re- 
semblance of  it  striking  his  imagination.  He  pities  the  plu- 
mage, but  forgets  the  dying  bird.  Accustomed  to  kiss  the 
aristocratic  hand  that  hath  purloined  him  from  himself,  he  de- 
generates into  a  composition  of  art,  and  the  genuine  soul  of 


96  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

nature  forsakes  him.  His  hero  or  his  heroine  must  be  a  tra- 
gedy victim  expiring  in  show,  and  not  the  real  prisoner  of  mis- 
ery sliding  into  death  in  the  silence  of  a  dungeon.'  Mr.  Paine 
reasons  very  deeply  on  the  subject  of  rights,  and  the  origin  of 
government,  in  opposition  to  the  dogmatical  assertions  and 
high-sounding  declamation  of  his  antagonist,  and  concludes 
his  argument  with  a  comparison  between  the  constitutions  of 
England  and  France,  as  the  latter  then  stood  under  the  author- 
ity of  the  national  assembly.  He  ridicules  the  vanity  of  titles, 
and  the  policy  of  hereditary  governors,  and  vindicates  the  con- 
duct of  the  national  assembly  in  abolishing  the  one,  and  neu- 
tralizing the  authority  of  the  other. 

It  has  been  urged  against  the  work  before  us,  that  the  au- 
thor had  neglected  to  arrange  his  matter  methodically.  But 
it  should  be  recollected,  that  he  was  compelled  to  follow  the 
track  of  his  opponent,  which,  as  Mr.  Paine  very  truly  observes, 
was  a  complete  'wilderness  of  rhapsodies.'  It  was  therefore 
impossible  to  preserve  that  order  which  in  any  other  work 
would  be  considered  essentially  requisite.  It  may,  however, 
be  safely  asserted,  that  the  author's  meaning  is  always  clear, 
that  his  facts  are  always  correctly  stated,  and  that  his  argu- 
ments are  incontrovertible.  With  respect  to  the  merits  of  the 
work  as  a  composition,  its  immense  circulation  and  immedi- 
ate effect  in  exciting  an  inquiry  into  the  abuses  of  the  English 
government,  will  answer  for  this  part  of  the  subject.  Perhaps 
there  never  was  a  period  in  which  the  people  of  that  country 
were  less  disposed  to  attend  to  the  discussion  of  politics  than 
at  the  time  Mr.  Paine' s  pamphlet  made  its  appearance  :  they 
had  been  so  often  amused,  and  so  often  deceived,  by  men  who 
pretended  to  advocate  their  rights,  that  they  were  disgusted 
with  the  subject,  and  the  apostacy  of  Mr.  Burke  was  a  con- 
firmation of  their  sentiments.  But  the  principles  contained  in 
the  '  Eights  of  Man,'  opened  an  entirely  new  field  of  argument 
and  inquiry,  and  the  thinking  part  of  the  people  began  to  view 
^  the  right  of  political  reform,  not  as  a  boon  to  be  expected  or 
desired  from  the  government,  but  as  a  power  which  the  nation 
alone  had  the  authority  to  exercise. 

About  the  middle  of  May  Mr.  Paine  again  went  to  France. 
Soon  after  his  arrival  the  king  fled  from  Paris.  On  this  occasion 
he  observed  to  his  friend  Mr.  Christie :  '  You  see  the  absurdity 
of  monarchical  governments.  Here  will  be  a  whole  nation 
disturbed  by  the  folly  of  one  man.'  When  the  king  returned 
to  Paris,  Mr.  Paine  was,  from  an  accidental  circumstance,  in 
considerable  danger  of  losing  his  life.  An  immense  concourse 
of  persons  of  all  classes  had  assembled  to  witness  the  event. 
Among  the  crowd  was  Mr.  Paine.  An  officer  proclaimed  the 
order  of  the  national  assembly,  that  all  should  be  silent  and 
covered.  In  an  instant  all  hats  were  on.  Mr.  Paine,  however, 
had  lost  his  cockade,  the  emblem  of  liberty  and  equality.  The 


ABBE  SYEYES — HORNE  TOOKE. 

multitude  observing  that  he  remained  uncovered,  supposed 
that  he  was  one  of  their  enemies,  and  a  cry  instantly  arose, 
*  Aristocrat !  Aristocrat !  a  la  lanterne  !  a  la  lanterne  /'  He 
was  desired  by  those  who  stood  near  him  to  put  on  his  hat, 
and  it  was  sometime  before  the  people  could  be  satisfied  by 
explanation. 

The  Abbe  Syeyes,  who  had  been  one  of  the  principal  au- 
thors of  the  new  constitution,  being  alarmed  at  the  partial 
excesses  which  had  been  committed  by  the  populace,  and 
falsely  attributing  them  to  the  propagation  of  republican  prin- 
ciples, avowed  his  intention  of  defending  the  monarchical 
against  the  democratical  system  of  government.  Mr.  Paine 
readily  accepted  the  challenge,  and  offered,  in  the  short  space 
of  fifty  pages,  to  controvert  all  the  arguments  which  the  abbe 
could  bring  forward  in  defence  of  his  proposition.  The  latter 
prudently  declined  the  contest,  and  thus  the  matter  ended* 

On  the  thirteenth  July,  1791,  he  returned  to  London,  but  it 
was  not  thought  prudent  that  he  should  attend  the  public  cele* 
bration  of  the  French  revolution,  which  was  to  take  place  on 
the  following  day.  He  was,  however,  present  at  the  meeting 
which  was  held  at  the  Thatched-House  tavern,  on  the  twen- 
tieth of  August  following*  Of  the  address  and  declaration 
which  issued  from  this  meeting,  and  which  was  at  first  at- 
tributed to  Mr.  Home  Tooke,  Mr.  Paine  was  the  author.  A 
second  meeting  was  intended  to  have  been  held  at  the  same 
place,  for  a  similar  purpose,  but  the  proprietor  of  the  tavern 
was  so  much  alarmed  at  the  clamors  of  the  government  party, 
that  he  was  under  the  necessity  of  informing  Mr.  Home  Tooke 
and  his  friends  that  he  could  not  receive  them. 

Mr.  Paine  was  now  very  much  engaged  in  preparing  the 
second  part  of  the  'Rights  of  Man'  for  the  press.  In  the  mean- 
time the  ministry  had  received  information  that  the  work 
would  shortly  appear,  and  they  resolved  on  getting  it  sup- 
pressed  if  possible.  Having  ascertained  the  name  of  the  print- 
er, they  employed*  him  to  endeavor  to  purchase  the  copy- 
right of  the  second,  together  with  the  future  copyright  of  the 
first  part  of  the  '  Rights  of  Man.'  He  began  first  by  offering 
a  hundred  guineas,  then  five  hundred,  and  at  length  a  thousand ; 
but  Mr.  Paine  told  him,  that  he  '  would  never  put  it  in  the 
power  of  any  printer  or  publisher  to  suppress  or  alter  a  work, 
of  his,  by  making  him  master  of  the  copy,  or  give  him  the 

*  I  am  aware  that  the  circumstance  of  Mr.  Chapman's  being  employed  by  gov- 
ernment, has  been  denied  by  the  partisans  of  the  administration.  But  from  the 
evidence  which  he  gave  on  the  trial,  there  is  every  reason  to  conclude  that  he  was 
commissioned  by  the  ministry  or  their  immediate  agents.  He  there  states,  that 
he  refused  to  go  on  with  the  printing  of  the  work  from  the  fear  of  its  being  pros- 
ecuted. Is  it  probable  that  any  man  would  be  so  extremely  foolish  as  to  offer  a 
thousand  guineas  for  the  copyright  of  a  book  which  he  dare  not  sell,  unless  he 
had  some  prospect  in  doing  it  distinct  from  the  profit  that  was  to  be  derived  from 
the  publication  ?  The  case  is  too  clear  to  require  farther  commentary. 

13 


98  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

right  of  selling  it  to  any  minister,  or  to  any  other  person, 
or  to  treat  as  a  mere  matter  of  traffic  that  which  he  intended 
should  operate  as  a  principle." 

Finding  that  Mr.  Paine  was  not  to  be  bribed  by  pecuniary 
offers,  the  ministry  next  attempted  to  impede,  since  they  could 
not  suppress,  the  publication  of  the  work,  and  in  this  they 
partially  succeeded.  Among  other  things,  it  contained  several 
propositions  relative  to  a  reduction  of  the  public  taxes.  It  was 
intended  to  have  appeared  on  the  day  of  the  meeting  of  par- 
liament, but  when  the  printer  found  it  was  not  to  be  purchased, 
he  suddenly  stopped  in  the  middle  of  the  work,  and  informed 
Mr.  Paine  that  he  would  not  proceed  with  the  remainder  on 
any  consideration.  Another  printer,  therefore,  became  neces- 
sary, and  this  occasioned  a  delay  of  a  fortnight.  From  the 
circumstances,  elsewhere  stated,  there  is  every  reason  to  con- 
clude that  the  proof-sheets  were  regularly  sent  to  the  cabi- 
net>  and  that  the  small  addition  to  the  pay  of  the  soldiers,  as 
well  as  several  proposals  for  reducing  the  taxes  brought  for- 
ward by  Mr.  Pitt  at  the  opening  of  parliament,  were  done  for 
no  other  object  than  that  of  making  it  appear  that  Mr.  Paine's 
plan  was  merely  an  improvement  on  that  of  the  minister.  But 
even  in  this  paltry  purpose  the  parties  in  power  were  defeat- 
ed, by  the  exposure  of  the  circumstances  in  the  appendix  to 
the  work. 

The  '  Rights  of  Man,'  part  the  second,  combining  principle 
and  practice,  was  published  by  Mr.  Jordan,  of  Fleet  street,  on 
the  sixteenth  of  February,  1792.  Exclusive  of  a  dedication  to 
M.  de  la  Fayette,  a  preface  and  an  introduction,  it  is  divided 
into  five  chapters  :  chapter  1,  on  Society  and  Civilization  ;  '2, 
on  the  Origin  of  the  present  old  Governments ;  3,  on  the  old 
and  new  Systems  of  Government ;  4>,  on  Constitutions ;  5, 
Ways  and  Means  of  reforming  the  Political  Condition  of  Eu- 
rope, interspersed  with  Miscellaneous  Observations. 

The  second  part  is,  strictly  speaking,  a  continuation  of  the 
first.  The  general  design  of  the  work  appears  to  have  been 
an  investigation  of  the  abuses  of  the  English  government ;  an 
examination  of  the  hereditary  and  representative  systems  ;  to 
which  are  added,  a.  variety  of  propositions  for  meliorating  the 
condition  of  the  nation.  In  going  over  this  work,  it  is  difficult 
to  decide  whether  the  ability  or  benevolence  of  the  writer  is 
the  most  deserving  of  our  admiration.  The  most  abstruse  and 
difficult  subjects  in  the  science  of  politics  are  rendered  intelli- 
gible and  interesting,  and  the  abuses  which  had  been  accumu- 
lating for  ages,  and  which  antiquity  seemed  to  have  rendered 
sacred  and  venerable,  are  examined  with  a  degree  of  boldness, 
which  is  wholly  without  precedent  or  parallel.  The  generality 
of  those  who  had  previously  written  on  the  subject  of  govern- 
ment, appear  to  have  drawn  their  principles  from  existing 
systems,  and  all  that  they  had  attempted  to  effect,  was  the 


"  RIGHTS  OF  MAN,"  PART  II.  99 

correction  of  a  few  exterior  abuses,  without  daring  to  invade 
the  assumed  rights  of  the  establishment  itself.  But  our  au- 
thor's attack  was  quite  of  a  different  nature  :  he  not  only  depre- 
cated the  practice,  but  he  condemned  the  principle  5  he  not 
only  declared  his  contempt  for  the  monarch,  but  his  detesta-  v 
tion  of  the  monarchy.  He  had  studied  the  science  of  politics 
in  the  school  of  human  nature,  and  he  spoke  as  he  felt,  with- 
out reverencing,  or  even  referring  to  the  subtleties  of  the 
sophists  who  had  gone  before  him. 

One  of  the  great  objects  of  the  work  was  to  do  away  with 
the  delusive  notion,  that  the  members  of  the  system  ought  to 
be  expected  to  reform  themselves.  l  There  does  not,'  says  he, 
*  exist  within  such  governments,  sufficient  stamina  whereon  to 
ingraft  reformation.'  4  The  right  of  reform  is  in  the  nation,  in  V 
its  original  character,  and  the  constitutional  method  would  be 
by  a  general  convention  elected  for  the  purpose.'  He  likewise 
reasons  with  much  energy  in  the  first  as  well  as  the  second 
part  of  the  work  against  the  prevalent  opinions,  with  respect 
to  the  mixed  system  of  government.  '  A  nation  is  not  a  body, 
the  figure  of  which  is  to  be  represented  by  the  human  body, 
but  is  like  a  body  contained  within  a  circle,  having  a  common 
centre,  in  which  every  radius  meets,  and  that  centre  is  formed 
by  representation.  To  connect  representation  with  what  is 
called  monarchy,  is  eccentric  government.  Representation  is 
of  itself  the  delegated  monarchy  of  a  nation,  and  cannot  de- 
base itself  by  dividing  it  with  another.1  Indeed,  it  requires 
very  little  reflection  to  discover  the  impossibility  of  uniting 
democracy  with  monarchy  or  aristocracy,  for  any  beneficial 
purpose.  The  union  may  exist  in  appearance,  but  it  never  can  s 
take  place  in  fact.  The  dignified  pride  of  republicanism  dis- 
owns the  base  connexion. 

It  is  impossible  to  form  an  exact  estimate  of  the  number  of 
copies  which  were  circulated  of  the  first  and  second  parts  of 
the  '  Rights  of  Man,'  but  at  a  very  moderate  calculation  there 
was  at  least  a  hundred  thousand  of  each.     When  Mr.  Paine       y 
saw  the  great  interest  which  it  excited,  he  thought  the  best     / 
mode  of  promulgating  its  principles,  would  be  to  give  up  the 
copyright  in  favor  of  the  public,  which  he  did  about  two  months 
after  the  appearance  of  the  second  part.     The  probability  of  ^ 
a  revolution  now  became  a  subject  of  general  discussion.  The 
nation  was  divided  into  two  numerous  and  powerful  classes, 
the  one  consisting  of  the  ignorant  and  the  majority  of  the 
wealthy,  arranged  under  the  banners  of  civil   and  religious 
tyranny,  and  declaring  their  attachment  to  all  that  was  super-   ( 
stitious  in  the  church,  and  all  that  was  despotic  in  the  state — 
while  the  other,  more  numerous  and   less  dependant,  more 
enlightened  though   less  opulent,  being  convinced  that  the 
government  in  its  existing  state,  was  the  cause  of  the  greater 
part  of  the  misery  with  which  the  country  was  afflicted,  were 


100  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE, 

determined  to  let  slip  no  opportunity  of  shaking  off  the  load 
of  oppression.  That  the  different  branches  of  government 
were  in  a  state  of  the  completest  trepidation,  is  a  fact  that  ad- 
mits of  no  question,  and  that  many  of  the  most  intelligent 
men  of  all  parties  expected  a  revolution,  is  equally  indisputa- 
ble. It  is  recorded  of  a  certain  ancient  philosopher,  who  lived 
under  a  capricious  tyrant,  that  he  used  every  morning,  when 
he  awoke,  to  feel  whether  his  head  was  on  his  shoulders ;  and 
the  state  of  the  English  people  at  length  became  so  unsettled, 
and  the  stability  of  the  government  so  problematical,  that  the 
king  and  his  ministry  might  almost  consider  themselves  in  as 
precarious  a  situation. 

On  the  first  appearance  of  the  *  Rights  of  Man,'  the  ministry 
saw  that  it  inculcated  truths  which  they  could  not  controvert, 
that  it  contained  plans  which,  if  adopted,  would  benefit  at  least 
nine  tenths  of  the  community,  and  that  its  principles  were  the 
reverse  of  the  existing  system  of  government ;  they  therefore 
judged  that  the  most  politic  method  would  be  to  treat  the  work 
with  contempt,  to  represent  it  as  a  foolish  and  insignificant 
performance,  unworthy  of  their  notice,  and  undeserving  of  the 
attention  of  the  public.  But  they  soon  found  the  inefficacy  of 
this  mode  of  treatment ;  the  more  contempt  they  showed,  the 
more  the  book  was  read  and  approved  of.  Finding,  therefore, 
that  their  declarations  of  contempt  were  as  unsuccessful  as 
their  project  of  buying  up  the  work,  they  determined  upon 
prosecuting  the  author  and  publisher.  Mr.  Paine  was  not  at 
all  surprised  at  this  resolution  of  the  ministry  ;  indeed,  he  had 
anticipated  it  on  the  publication  of  the  second  part  of  the  work, 
and  to  remove  any  doubt  as  to  his  intention  of  defending  the 
principles  which  he  had  so  effectually  inculcated,  he  address- 
ed the  following  letter  to  his  publisher  : — 

'FEBRUARY  16,  1792. 

SIR  :  Should  any  person,  under  the  sanction  of  any  kind  of 
authority,  inquire  of  you  respecting  the  author  and  publisher 
of  the  "  Rights  of  Man,"  you  will  please  to  mention  me  as  the 
author  and  publisher  of  that  work,  and  show  to  such  person 
this  letter.  I  will  as  soon  as  I  am  made  acquainted  with  it,  ap- 
pear and  answer  for  the  work  personally. 

Your  humble  servant, 

THOMAS  PAINE. 
MR.  JORDAN, 
No.  166  Fleet  Street.' 

The  first  intimation  which  Mr.  Paine  received  of  the  inten- 
tions of  the  ministry,  was  on  the  14th  of  May,  1792.  He  was 
then  at  Bromley  in  Kent,  upon  which  he  came  immediately  to 
town  ;  on  his  arrival,  he  found  that  Mr.  Jordan  had  that  even- 
ing been  served  with  a  summons  to  appear  at  the  court  of 
King's  Bench  on  the  Monday  following,  hut  for  what  purpose 


PROSECUTION  OF  MR.  PAINE.  101 

was  not  stated.  Conceiving  it  to  be  on  account  of  the  work, 
he  appointed  a  meeting  with  Mr.  Jordan,  on  the  next  morning, 
when  he  provided  a  solicitor,  and  took  the  expense  of  the  de- 
fence on  himself.  But  Mr.  Jordan,  it  appears,  had  too  much 
regard  for  his  person  to  hazard  its  safety  on  the  event  of  a 
prosecution,  and  he  compromised  the  affair  with  the  solicitor 
of  the  treasury,  by  agreeing  to  appear  in  court  and  plead  guilty. 
This  arrangement  answered  the  purpose  of  both  parties — that 
of  Jordan  in  liberating  him  from  the  risk  of  a  prosecution,  and 
that  of  the  ministry,  since  his  plea  of  guilty  amounted  in  some 
measure  to  a  condemnation  of  the  work. 

The  following  letter  from  Mr.  Paine  to  Sir  Archibald  Mac- 
donald,  the  then  attorney-general,  will  serve  to  confirm  this 
statement : — 

'  SIR  :  Though  I  have  some  reason  for  believing  that  you 
were  not  the  original  promoter  or  encourager  of  the  prosecu- 
tion commenced  against  the  work  entitled  '  Rights  of  Man,' 
either  as  that  prosecution  is  intended  to  affect  the  author,  the 
publisher,  or  the  public ;  yet  as  you  appear  the  official  person 
therein,  I  address  this  letter  to  you,  not  as  Sir  Archibald  Mac- 
donald,  but  as  attorney-general. 

You  began  by  a  prosecution  against  the  publisher,  Jordan, 
and  the  reason  assigned  by  Mr.  Secretary  Dundas,  in  the  house 
of  commons,  in  the  debate  on  the  proclamation,  May  25,  for  ta- 
king that  measure,  was,  he  said,  because  Mr.  Paine  could  not 
be  found,  or  words  to  that  effect.  Mr.  Paine,  sir,  so  far  from 
secreting  himself,  never  went  a  step  out  of  his  way,  nor  in  the 
least  instance  varied  from  his  usual  conduct,  to  avoid  any  mea- 
sure you  might  choose  to  adopt  with  respect  to  him.  It  is  on 
the  purity  of  his  heart,  and  the  universal  utility  of  the  princi-  j 
pies  and  plans  which  his  writings  contain,  that  he  rests  the 
issue ;  and  he  will  not  dishonor  it  by  any  kind  of  subterfuge.  / 
The  apartments  which  he  occupied  at  the  time  of  writing  the 
work  last  winter,  he  has  continued  to  occupy  to  the  present 
hour,  and  the  solicitors  of  the  prosecution  knew  where  to  find 
him  ;  of  which  there  is  a  proof  in  their  own  office  as  far  back 
as  the  21st  of  May,  and  also  in  the  office  of  my  own  attorney. 

But  admitting,  for  the  sake  of  the  case,  that  the  reason  for 
proceeding  against  the  publisher  was,  as  Mr.  Dundas  stated, 
that  Mr.  Paine  could  not  be  found,  that  reason  can  now  exist 
no  longer. 

The  instant  that  I  was  informed  that  an  information  was  pre-    \f^ 
paring  to  be  filed  against  me,  as  the  author  of,  I  believe,  one 
of  the  most  useful  books  ever  offered  to  mankind,  I  direct-     | 
ed  my  attorney  to  put  in  an  appearance  ;  and  as  I  shall  meet    J 
the  prosecution  fully  and  fairly,  and  with  a  good  and  upright 
conscience,  I  have  a  right  to  expect  that  no  act  of  littleness, 
will  be  made  use  of  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution  toward  in* 


102  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

fluencing  the  future  issue  with  respect  to  the  author.  This  ex* 
pression  may,  perhaps,  appear  obscure  to  you,  but  I  am  in  the 
possession  of  some  matters  which  serve  to  show  that  the  action 
against  the  publisher  is  not  intended  to  be  a  real  action.  If, 
therefore,  any  persons  concerned  in  the  prosecution  have  found 
their  cause  so  weak  as  to  make  it  appear  convenient  to  them 
to  enter  into  a  negotiation  with  the  publisher,  whether  for 
the  purpose  of  his  submitting  to  a  verdict,  and  to  make  use  of 
the  verdict  so  obtained  as  a  circumstance,  by  way  of  precedent, 
on  a  future  trial  against  myself;  or  for  any  other  purpose  not 
fully  made  known  to  me  ;  if,  I  say,  I  have  cause  to  suspect 
this  to  be  the  case,  I  shall  most  certainly  withdraw  the  defence 
I  should  otherwise  have  made,  or  promoted,  on  his  (the  pub- 
lisher's) behalf,  and  leave  the  negotiators  to  themselves,  and 
shall  reserve  the  whole  of  the  defence  for  the  real  trial. 

But,  sir>  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  this  matter  with  at 
least  that  appearance  of  fairness  and  openness  that  shall  just- 
ify itself  before  the  public,  whose  cause  it  really  is  (for  it  is 
the  right  of  public  discussion  and  investigation  that  is  ques- 
tioned), I  have  to  propose  to  you  to  cease  the  prosecution 
against  the  publisher ;  and  as  the  reason  or  pretext  can  no 
longer  exist  for  continuing  it  against  him  because  Mr.  Paine 
could  not  be  found,  that  you  would  direct  the  whole  process 
against  me,  with  whom  the  prosecuting  party  will  not  find  it 
possible  to  enter  into  any  private  negotiation. 

I  will  do  the  cause  full  justice,  as  well  for  the  sake  of  the 
nation,  as  for  my  own  reputation. 

Another  reason  for  discontinuing  the  process  against  the 
publisher  is,  because  it  can  amount  to  nothing.  First,  be- 
cause a  jury  in  London  cannot  decide  upon  the  fact  of  publishing 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  jurisdiction  of  London,  and  therefore 
the  work  may  be  republished  over  and  over  again  in  every 
county  in  the  nation,  and  every  case  must  have  a  separate  pro- 
cess ;  and  by  the  time  that  three  or  four  hundred  prosecutions 
have  been  had,  the  eyes  of  the  nation  will  then  be  fully  open 
to  see  that  the  work  in  question  contains  a  plan  the  best  cal- 
culated to  root  out  all  the  abuses  of  government,  and  to  less- 
en the  taxes  of  the  nation  upward  of  six  millions  annually. 

Secondly,  because  though  the  gentlemen  of  London  maybe 
very  expert  in  understanding  their  particular  professions  and 
occupations,  and  how  to  make  business  contracts  with  govern- 
ment beneficial  to  themselves  as  individuals,  the  rest  of  the 
nation  may  not  be  disposed  to  consider  them  sufficiently  qual- 
ified nor  authorized  to  determine  for  the  whole  nation  on  plans 
of  reform,  and  on  systems  and  principles  of  government.  This 
would  be  in  effect  to  erect  a  jury  into  a  national  convention, 
instead  of  electing  a  convention,  and  to  lay  a  precedent  for 
the  probable  tyranny  of  juries,  under  the  pretence  of  support- 
ing their  rights. 


PROSECUTION  OF  MR.  PAINE.  103 

( 

That  the  possibility  always  exists  of  packing  juries  will  not 
be  denied ;  and,  therefore,  in  all  cases  where  government  is 
the  prosecutor,  more  especially  in  those  where  the  right  of 
public  discussion  and  investigation  of  principles  and  systems 
of  government  is  attempted  to  be  suppressed  by  a  verdict,  or 
in  those  where  the  object  of  the  work  that  is  prosecuted  is 
the  reform  of  abuse  and  the  abolition  of  sinecure  places  and 
pensions,  in  all  these  cases  the  verdict  of  a  jury  will  itself 
become  a  subject  of  discussion ;  and,  therefore,  it  furnishes 
an  additional  reason  for  discontinuing  the  prosecution  against 
the  publisher,  more  especially  as  it  is  not  a  secret  that  there 
has  been  a  negotiation  with  him  for  secret  purposes,  and  for 
proceeding  against  me  only.  I  shall  make  a  much  stronger 
defence  than  what  I  believe  the  treasury  solicitor's  agreement 
with  him  will  permit  him  to  do. 

I  believe  that  Mr.  Burke,  finding  himself  defeated,  and  not 
being  able  to  make  any  answer  to  the  "  Rights  of  Man,"  has 
been  one  of  the  promoters  of  this  prosecution ;  and  I  shall  re- 
turn the  compliment  to  him  by  showing,  in  a  future  publica- 
tion, that  he  has  been  a  masked  pensioner  at  fifteen  hundred 
pounds  per  annum  for  about  ten  years. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  public  money  is  wasted,  and  the  dread 
of  public  investigation  is  produced. 
I  am,  sir, 

Your  obedient  humble  servant, 

THOMAS  PAINE. 

Sir  A.MACDONALD,  Attorney-General.' 

The  business  being  thus  settled  with  respect  to  Jordan,  and 
he  consenting  to  give  up  the  documents  in  his  possession 
relative  to  the  '  Rights  oif  Man,'  in  order  to  facilitate  their 
means  of  proceeding  against  the  author,  they  commenced  their 
prosecution  against  the  latter  on  the  twenty-first  of  May.  On 
the  same  day,  they  issued  their  celebrated  proclamation  against 
what  they  were  pleased  to  term  '  seditious  writings.'  The  au- 
thors of  this  document  preserved  a  careful  silence  as  to  the 
specific  object  of  their  alarms,  but  it  was  easy  to  discover  that 
their  intention  was  to  cry  down  the  *  Rights  of  Man,'  and  to 
influence  the  verdict  of  the  jury  which  was  to  try  the  author. 
Another  expedient  was  likewise  resorted  to — that  of  procuring 
addresses  in  favor  of  the  existing  system  of  government  from 
the  corporations,  rotten  boroughs,  and  other  places  under  the 
influence  of  the  ministry.  Nothing  could  be  more  despicable 
than  these  addresses,*  and  nothing  more  glaring  than  the  con- 

*  As  a  contrast  to  these  contemptible  and  fulsome  specimens  of  servility,  I 
subjoin  the  following: — 

'  At  a  meeting  of  the  Manchester  Constitutional  Society,  held  this  day,  it  was 
unanimously  resolved — 

That  the  thanks  of  this  society  are  due  to  Mr.  Thomas  Paine,  for  the  publica- 


104-  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

duct  of  their  promoters,  who  were  chiefly  persons  directly  or 
indirectly  interested  in  the  support  of  public  abuses :  but  des- 
picable as  they  were,  they  served  in  some  measure  the  pur- 

tion  of  his  "Second  Part  of  the  Rights  of  Man,  combining  Principle  and  Practice," 
a  work  of  the  highest  importance  to  every  nation  under  heaven ;  but  particularly 
to  this,  as  containing  excellent  and  practical  plans  for  an  immediate  and  consid- 
erable reduction  of  the  public  expenditure  ;  for  the  prevention  of  wars ;  for  the 
extension  of  our  manufactures  and  commerce  ;  for  the  education  of  the  young  ; 
for  the  comfortable  support  of  the  aged  ;  for  the  better  maintenance  of  the  poor 
of  every  description ;  and,  finally,  for  lessening,  greatly,  and  without  delay,  the 
enormous  load  of  taxes  under  which  this  country ^at  present  labors. 

That  this  society  congratulate  their  countrymen  at  large,  on  the  influence 
which  Mr.  Paine's  publications  appear  to  have  had,  in  procuring  the  repeal  of 
some  oppressive  taxes  in  the  present  session  of  parliament ;  and  they  hope  that 
this  adoption  of  a  small  part  of  Mr.  Paine's  ideas,  will  be  followed  by  the  most 
strenuous  exertions  to  accomplish  a  complete  reform  in  the  present  inadequate 
state  of  the  representation  of  the  people,  and  that  the  other  great  plans  of  public 
benefit,  which  Mr.  Paine  has  so  powerfully  recommended,  will  be  speedily  carried 
into  effect.  THOMAS  WALKER,  President. 

March  13,  1792.'  SAMUEL  JACKSON,  Secretary. 

Sheffield  Society  for  Constitutional  Information. 

1  This  society,  composed  chiefly  of  the  manufacturers  of  Sheffield,  began  about 
four  months  ago,  and  is  already  increased  to  nearly  two  thousand  members,  and 
is  daily  increasing,  exclusive  of  the  adjacent  towns  and  villages  who  are  forming 
themselves  into  similar  societies. 

Considering,  as  we  do,  that  the  want  of  knowledge  and  information  in  the  gen- 
eral mass  of  the  people,  has  exposed  them  to  numberless  impositions  and  abuses, 
the  exertions  of  this  society  are  directed  to  the  acquirement  of  useful  knowledge, 
and  to  spread  the  same  as  far  as  our  endeavors  and  abilities  can  extend. 

We  declare  that  we  have  derived  more  true  knowledge  from  the  two  works  of 
Mr.  Thomas  Paine,  entitled  "  Rights  of  Man,"  parts  the  first  and  second,  than 
from  any  author  on  the  subject.  The  practice  as  well  as  the  principle  of  govern- 
ment is  laid  down,  in  those  works,  in  a  manner  so  clear  and  irresistibly  con- 
vincing, that  this  society  do  hereby  resolve  to  give  their  thanks  to  Mr.  Paine  for 
his  two  said  publications,  entitled  "  Rights  of  Man,"  parts  first  and  second. 

Resolved  unanimously,  That  the  thanks  of  this  society  be  given  to  Mr.  Paine, 
for  the  affectionate  concern  he  has  shown  in  his  second  work  in  behalf  of  the 
poor,  the  infant,  and  the  aged  5  who,  notwithstanding  the  opulence  which  blesses 
other  parts  of  the  community,  are,  by  the  grievous  weight  of  taxes,  rendered  the 
miserable  victims  of  poverty  and  wretchedness. 

Resolved  unanimously.  That  the  thanks  of  this  society  be  given  to  John  Home 
Tooke,  Esq.,  for  his  meritorious  support  of  our  lawful  privileges,  as  a  firm  advo- 
cate of  our  natural  and  just  rights,  the  establishment  of  an  equal  representation 
of  the  people. 

Resolved  unanimously,  That  this  society  disdaining  to  be  considered  either  of 
a  ministerial  or  opposition  party  (names  of  which  we  are  tired,  having  been  so 
often  deceived  by  both)  do  ardently  recommend  it  to  all  their  fellow-citizens,  into 
whose  hands  these  resolutions  may  come,  to  confer  seriously  and  calmly  with 
each  other  on  the  subject  alluded  to ;  and  to  manifest  to  the  world,  that  the 
spirit  of  true  liberty  is  a  spirit  of  order ;  and  that  to  obtain  justice  it  is  con- 
sistent that  we  be  just  to  ourselves. 

Resolved  unanimously,  That  these  resolutions  be  printed,  and  that  a  copy 
thereof  be  transmitted  to  the  Society  for  Constitutional  Information,  London, 
requesting  their  approbation  for  twelve  of  our  friends  to  be  entered  into  their 
society  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  connexion  and  a  regular  communication 
with  that  and  all  other  similar  societies  in  the  kingdom. 

By  order  of  the  committee. 
March  14,  1792.'  DAVID  MARTIN,  Chairman. 

The  above  were  selected  from  a  number  of  others  of  a  similar  description. 
They  show  that  Mr.  Paine  had  the  approbation  of  the  most  independent  portion 
of  the  people,  though  his  writings  were  not  sanctioned  by  the  aristocracy,  the 
landed  interest,  or  any  other  class  interested  in  the  protection  of  a  corrupt  system 
of  government. 


MR.  PAINE'S  "ADDRESS  TO  THE  ADDRESSERS."  105 

pose  of  the  moment  in  decrying  the  character  of  a  work,  and 
defaming  the  reputation  of  a  man  whose  arguments  were  un- 
answerable, and  whose  character  was  irreproachable.  A  great 
number  of  pamphlets,  intended  as  answers  to  the  '  Rights  of 
Man,'  had  issued  from  the  press,  but  such  was  the  irresistible 
nature  of  truth,  that  these  puny  and  feeble  efforts  on  the  part 
of  wounded  corruption  no  sooner  appeared  than  they  vanished, 
and  a  few  short  weeks  consigned  them  and  their  authors  to 
eternal  oblivion.  They  therefore  determined  that  an  appeal  to 
popular  clamor  would  serve  their  cause  better  than  an 
appeal  to  reason,  and  the  verdict  of  a  packed  jury  would 
answer  their  purpose  better  than  any  attempt  to  argue  the 
merits  of  the  work  on  the  principles  of  truth  and  justice. 

While  the  ministers  of  despotism  were  thus  revelling  in  the 
anticipation  of  their  plots  and  schemes  for  crushing  the  rising 
spirit  of  the  country,  the  author  of  the  '  Rights  of  Man'  was 
resolved  not  to  shrink  from  the  discussion  which  his  writings 
had  occasioned.  He  was  urged  by  several  gentlemen  of  the 
law  to  prefer  a  bill  of  indictment  against  the  publisher  of  the 
proclamation  as  a  publication  tending  to  influence  the  decision 
of  the  jury  ;  but  conscious  of  the  rectitude  of  his  intentions, 
and  of  the  strength  of  his  arguments,  he  preferred  meeting 
the  proclamation  on  its  own  ground,  and  defending  the  princi- 
ples of  the  work  which  had  been  falsely  stigmatized  as  wicked 
and  seditious.  Accordingly,  about  the  month  of  August,  1792, 
he  prepared  another  publication  in  defence  of  the  '  Rights  of 
Man'  and  of  his  own  conduct,  entitled,  'An  Address  to  the  / 
Addresers  on  the  late  Proclamation.'  This  is  one  of  thty 
severest  pieces  of  satire  that  ever  issued  from  the  press.  The 
parliamentary  orators  on  both  sides  the  house,  anxious  to 
raise  a  popular  outcry  against  the  '  Rights  of  Man,'  had  com- 
menced the  session,  by  describing  to  the  country  and  to  each 
other  blessings  which  were  enjoyed  under  the  British  consti- 
tution. The  praises  which  were  bestowed  upon  the  '  radical 
beauties'  of  this  constitution,  and  the  motives  which  produced 
them,  are  ridiculed  by  Mr.  Paine  in  a  fine  strain  of  irony. 
Having  informed  the  addressers  of  these  symptoms  of  alarm, 
on  the  part  of  their  mild  and  merciful  governors,  he  proceeds 
to  a  defence  of  the  principles  of  the  '  Rights  of  Man.'  He  re- 
peats his  former  arguments,  and  offers  additional  reasons  for 
the  positions  he  had  advanced.  He  concludes  this  part  of  the 
pamphlet  with  these  words,  in  reference  to  the  impending 
prosecution:  'If  to  expose  the  fraud  and  imposition  of  every 
species  of  hereditary  government ;  to  lessen  the  oppression 
of  taxes  ;  to  propose  plans  for  the  education  of  helpless  in- 
fancy, and  the  comfortable  support  of  the  aged  and  distressed; 
to  endeavor  to  conciliate  nations  to  each  other ;  to  extirpate 
the  horrid  practice  of  war  ;  to  promote  universal  peace,  civili- 
zation,  and  commerce  ;  and  to  break  the  chains  of  political 

U 


106  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

superstition,  and  raise  degraded  man  to  his  proper  rank ; 
if  these  things  be  libellous,  let  me  live  the  life  of  a  libeller, 
and  let  the  name  of  libeller  be  engraven  on  my  tomb.' 

But  though  Mr.  Paine  was  determined  to  take  every  opportu- 
nity of  defending  his  principles,  he  maintained  that  the  case  was 
deserving  of  a  much  more  extensive  consideration  than  could 
be  bestowed  upon  it  by  any  jury,  whether  special  or  common. 
He  contends  in  the  work  before  us,  that  the  question  was  not 
so  much  whether  he  had  or  had  not  written  what  crown  law- 
yers and  packed  juries  are  in  the  habit  of  condemning  as 
wicked  and  seditious  libels,  but  whether  individuals  had  the 
right  to  investigate  systems  and  principles  of  government, 
and  to  publish  the  conclusions  resulting  from  such  investiga- 
tion. It  was  this  right  which  the  ministry  were  invading 
under  the  pretence  of  prosecuting  the  author  of  the  c  Rights 
of  Man,'  and  while  in  appearance  they  were  merely  attempting 
to  suppress  what  they  called  the  seditious  writings  of  Mr. 
Paine,  they  were,  in  fact,  aiming  a  deadly  blow  at  the  rights 
of  every  man  in  the  country. 

It  was  at  first  Mr.  Paine's  intention  to  have  defended  him- 
self personally,  but  an  event  happened  about  two  months  pre- 
vious to  the  trial  which  disconcerted  his  purpose.    While  he 
was  preparing  his  '  Letter  to  the  Addressers,'  his  friends  and 
\\    admirers  in  France  were  preparing  a  wreath  of  civic  honors, 
as  a  reward  for  his  intrepid  exertions  in  defence  of  universal 
liberty.    About  the  middle  of  September,  1792,  a  French  depu- 
tation announced  to  him  inLondon,  that  the  department  of  Calais 
had  elected  him  as  their  representative  in  the  national  conven- 
tion. This  was  a  matter  of  greater  interest  to  him  than  the  attor- 
ney-general's prosecution,  and  he  proceeded  to  Dover  with  the 
intention  of  embarking  immediately  to  Calais.     The  treatment 
which  he  met  with  at  Dover  was  disgraceful  in  the  extreme,* 
his  trunks  were  all  opened,  and  the  contents  examined.    Some 
of  his  papers  were  seized,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  whole 
would  have  shared  the  same  fate,  but  for  the  cool  and  steady 
conduct  of  Mr.  Paine  and  his  attendants.    When  the  custom- 
house officers  had  indulged  themselves  in  this  manner  as  long  as 
they  thought  proper,  Mr.  Paine  and  his  friends  were  suffered 
to  embark,  and  they  arrived  at  Calais,  after  a  pleasant  passage 
of  three  hours.     He  very  narrowly  escaped  the  vigilance   bf 
the  despots  he  had  provoked,  for  it  appears  that  an  order  to 
detain  him  was  received  at  Dover,  in  about  twenty  minutes 
after  his  embarkation.     The  reception  which  he  met  with  at 
Calais,  furnished  a  striking  contrast  to  the  conduct  of  the 
government  agents  at  Dover.     On  the  name  of  Paine  being 
announced,  the  soldiers  at  the  gates  were  drawn  up,  and  the 
officers  on  guard  having  embraced  him,  presented  him  with 

*  For  a  full  account  of  this  scandalous  transaction,  see  his  Second  Letter  to 
Mr.  Secretary  Dundas,  dated  Calais.  September  15,  1792. 


MR.  PAINE'S  HONORS  IN  FRANCE.  107 

the  national  cockade.  A  very  pretty  woman,  who  was  stand- 
ing by,  desired  she  might  have  the  honor  of  putting  it  in  his 
hat,  expressing  her  hopes  that  he  would  continue  his  exertions 
in  favor  of  liberty,  equality,  and  France.  A  salute  was  then 
fired  from  the  battery,  to  announce  the  arrival  of  their  new 
representative.  This  Ceremony  being  over,  he  walked  to 
Deissein's,  in  the  Rue  de  VEgalite  (formerly  Rue  de  Roi),  the 
men,  women,  and  children,  crowding  around  him,  and  calling 
out  '  Vive  Thomas  Paine !'  He  was  then  conducted  to  the 
town-hall,  and  there  presented  to  the  municipality,  who  with 
the  greatest  affection  embraced  their  representative.  The 
mayor  addressed  him  in  a  short  speech,  which  was  interpreted 
to  him  by  his  friend  and  conductor,  M.  Audibert,  to  which 
Mr.  Paine,  laying  his  hand  on  his  heart,  replied,  that  his  life 
should  be  devoted  to  their  service. 

At  the  inn  he  was  waited  upon  by  the  different  persons  in 
authority,  and  by  the  president  of  the  Constitutional  society, 
who  desired  he  would  attend  their  meeting  of  that  night :  he 
cheerfully  complied  with  the  request,  and  the  whole  town 
would  have  been  there,  had  there  been  room :  the  hall  of  the 
*  Minimes1  was  so  crowded  that  it  was  with  the  greatest  diffi- 
culty they  made  way  for  Mr.  Paine  to  the  side  of  the  president. 
Over  the  chair  he  sat  in,  was  placed  the  bust  of  Mirabeau,  and 
the  colors  of  France,  England,  and  America  united.  A  speaker 
acquainted  him  from  the  tribune  with  his  election,  amid  the 
plaudits  of  the  people.  For'some  minutes  after  this  ceremony, 
nothing  was  heard  but  '  Vive  la  Nation !  Vive  THOMAS  PAINE,' 
in  voices  male  and  female. 

On  the  following  day  an  extra  meeting  was  appointed  to  be 
held  in  the  church  in  honor  of  their  new  deputy  to  the  conven- 
tion, the  Minimes  being  found  quite  suffocating  from  the  vast 
concourse  of  people  which  had  assembled  on  the  previous  oc- 
casion. A  play  was  performed  at  the  theatre  on  the  evening 
after  his  arrival,  and  a  box  was  specifically  reserved  c  for  the 
author  of  the  "  Rights  of  Man,"  the  object  of  the  English 
proclamation.' 

Mr  Paine  was  likewise  elected  as  deputy  for  Abbeville, 
Beauvais,  and  Versailles,  as  well  as  for  the  department  of  Calais, 
but  the  latter  having  been  the  first  in  their  choice,  he  preferred 
being  their  representative. 

After  remaining  with  his  constituents  a  short  time,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Paris  in  order  to  take  his  seat  as  a  member  of  the 
National  Assembly.  On  the  road  he  met  with  similar  honors 
to  those  which  he  had  received  at  Calais.  As  soon  as  he  had 
arrived  at  Paris,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  people  of  France 
thanking  his  fellow-citizens  for  adopting  him  as  their  deputy 
to  the  convention. 

Mr.  Paine  was,  shortly  after  his  arrival  in  Paris,  appointed 
a  member  of  the  committee  for  framing  the  new  constitution. 


, 


108  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

While  he  was  peaceably  and  patriotically  performing  the  duties 
of  his  station,  the  ministry  of  England  were  using  every 
effort  to  counteract  the  (to  them)  dangerous  principles  which 
he  had  disseminated.  For  this  purpose  they  filed  a  number 
of  informations  against  the  different  individuals  who  had  re- 
tailed the  work.  The  trial  of  Mr.  Paine  came  on  at  Guildhall, 
on  the  18th  of  December,  before  Lord  Kenyon,*  and  a  special 
jury.  The  former  being  pensioned,  and  the  latter  being  pack- 
ed, a  verdict  of  guilty  followed  as  a  matter  of  course.  The 
proceedings  on  this  trial  are  not  of  much  interest,  except  as 
they  tend  to  develop  the  inquisitorial  character  of  an  English 
court  of  law  in  matters  of  libel.  The  attorney-general  had  se- 
lected a  few  passages  from  the  second  part  of  the  '  Rights  of 
Man/  which  he  thought  were  most  likely  to  answer  his  pur- 
pose, and  these,  in  the  verbose  vulgarity  of  the  law,  he  stigma- 
tized as  false,  wicked,  scandalous,  and  seditious.  He  was  pru- 
dent enough  to  refrain  from  any  attempt  to  prove  the  truth  of 
his  charge,  well  knowing  that,  with  such  a  judge  and  such  a 
jury,  abuse  would  be  received  as  a  substitute  for  argument,  and 
the  coarsest  and  most  improbable  calumnies  would  be  admitted 
as  evidence  of  the  writer's  evil  intention.  The  greater  part 
of  his  speech  to  the  jury  was  taken  up  with  a  comment  on  a 
letter  relative  to  the  prosecution,  which  Mr.  Paine  had  written 
to  him  from  Paris.  In  this  letter  he  says  :  '  Had  not  my  duty 
as  a  member  of  the  national  convention  of  France  called  me 
from  England,  I  should  have  stayed  to  have  contested  the  injus- 

*  This  man  was  one  of  the  most  cruel,  vindictive,  and  merciless  characters  that 
ever  disgraced  the  bench  of  a  British  court  of  justice.  As  an  illustration  of  his 
conduct,  the  following  anecdote  will  be  sufficient :  in  the  year  1799,  a  gentleman 
with  whom  I  have  the  pleasure  of  being  acquainted,  of  the  name  of  Waddington, 
speculated  very  largely  in  hops.  It  is  the  custom,  and  has  been  so  time  out  of 
mind,  to  purchase  many  of  the  hops  of  the  growers  before  they  are  gathered,  and 
to  give  so  much  a  pound  for  them  when  gathered  and  put  into  bags.  Mr.  Wad- 
dington (who  was  an  opulent  banker,  and  whose  character,  as  a  commercial  man, 
stood  veiy  high),  about  the  time  he  was  making  large  purchases  of  this  sort,  took 
the  lead  in  calling  a  meeting  in  the  city  of  London  to  petition  against  the  war. 
The  myrmidons  of  Pitt  were  set  to  work  to  discover  how  he  might  be  annoyed.  They 
trumped  up  a  charge  of  forestalling  against  him  for  having  purchased  hops  before 
they  were  brought  to  market.  Nothing  could  be  more  unfounded  than  this  charge, 
seeing  that  it  had  been  the  practice  of  thousands  of  persons  for  perhaps  more  than 
a  century.  In  the  reigns  of  Edward  VI.,  Mary,  Elizabeth,  Charles  II.,  and  Anne, 
divers  acts  of  parliament  had  been  passed  against  forestalling,  regrating,  engros- 
sing, &c.  But  in  time  it  was  discovered  that  these  acts  were  not  only  foolish,  but 
mischievous,  and  in  the  12th  year  of  the  reign  of  the  present  king,  the  whole  of 
them  were  repealed,  npon  the  ground  that  they  tended  to  produce  dearth  and 
misery.  But  the  common  law  had  not  been  repealed,  or  at  least  Kenyon  said  so. 
Upon  this  was  Mr.  Waddington  indicted,  and  a  jury,  packed  for  the  purpose,  found 


solved  all  his  contracts,  produced  a  forfeiture  of  his  deposites,  and  caused  a  run 
upon  his  house  and  his  bank,  was,  in  fact,  sentencing  him  to  ruin,  and  almost 
to  actual  beggary.  The  result  of  these  proceedings  brought  forth  a  number  of 
informations  against  forestallers — fortunately  for  Kenyon  he  died  soon  after,  and 
his  successor  declared  that  not  to  be  an  offence,  which  Kenyon  had  declared  to  be, 
an  offence  for  the  sole  purpose  of  ruining  a  man  whom  Pitt  and  his  colleagues  had 
marked  out  for  destruction. 


PERSONS    PERSECUTED.  109 

tice  of  that  prosecution ;  not  upon  my  own  account,  for  I 
cared  not  about  the  prosecution,  but  to  have  defended  the 
principles  I  had  advanced  in  the  work.'  He  likewise  delivers 
his  opinion  very  freely,  upon  the  capacity  of  the  reigning  king, 
and  the  profligacy  of  his  sons,  and  very  pointedly  asks  the 
attorney-general,  whether  he  conceives  such  persons  are 
necessary  to  the  government  of  a  nation  1  Mr.  Erskine  con- 
tended against  the  legal  right  of  the  prosecutor  to  avail  him- 
self of  the  contents  of  this  letter,  but  the  judge  overruled  the 
objection.  Indeed  the  whole  of  the  proceedings  seem  to  have 
been  marked  out  beforehand,  and  the  trial  seems  to  have  been 
nothing  but  a  convenient  farce.  Mr.  Erskine  addressed  the 
jury  for  some  hours,  but  his  speech  was  rather  an  evasion  of 
the  charge,  than  a  justification  of  the  principles  he  professed 
to  defend.  It  was,  as  Mr.  Paine  observed,  on  seeing  the  report 
of  the  trial,  '  a  good  speech  for  himself,  but  a  very  poor  defence 
of  the  "  Rights  of  Man." '  The  jury  found  a  verdict  for  the 
crown,  without  the  trouble  of  deliberation. 

With  respect  to  the  different  retailers  of  the  work  against 
whom  informations  were  filed,  their  fate  now  became  pretty 
evident.  The  ministry  were  not  satisfied  with  punishing  the 
venders  of  *  Rights  of  Man  ;'  they  likewise  instituted  prosecu- 
tions against  the  publishers  of  the  '  Letter  to  the  Addressers? 
and  obtained  several  convictions.  The  following  statement 
contains,  I  believe,  a  correct  account  of  the  number  of  prose- 
cutions against  these  works : — 

A   LIST    OF     THE    PERSONS    WHO    HAVE    BEEN    PROSECUTED    FOR    THE 


December  18,  1792.  Thomas  Paine,  c  Rights  of  Man,  Part 
II.'  convicted ;  went  to  France  previous  to  the  trial. 

February  26,  1793.  Thomas  Spence, 'Rights  of  Man,  Part  II.' 
flaw  in  the  indictment ;  acquitted. 

William  Holland.  '  Address  to  the  Addressers,'  one  year's 
imprisonment,  and  .£100  fine. 

H.  D.  Symonds.  'Rights  of  Man,'  two  years  imprisonment, 
and  £20  fine.  'Letter  to  the  Addressers,'  one  year's  im- 
prisonment, £100,  and  two  sureties  of  £250  each,  and  self 
for  £500,  for  three  years,  and  imprisonment  till  the  fine  be 
paid  and  sureties  given. 

April  15.  Thompson,  printer,  Birmingham, '  Rights  of  Man' 
and  '  Address  to  the  Addressers  ;'  acquitted. 

April  17.  Richard  Phillips,  printer,  Leicester,  *  Rights  of 
Man  ;'  eighteen  months'  imprisonment. 

May  8.  J.  Ridgway,  bookseller,  London  ;  '  Rights  of  Man,' 
one  year's  imprisonment,  and  £100.  'Letter  to  the  Addres- 
sers,' one  year's  imprisonment,  and  £100  fine  ;  in  each  case, 


1 10  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

two  sureties  of  £250  each,  and  self  for  £500  for  three  years, 
and  imprisonment  till  the  fine  be  paid,  and  sureties  given. 

June  3.  D.  I.  Eaton,  '  Rights  of  Man :'  verdict  which 
amounted  to  an  acquittal.  July  11.  Do.  'Address  to  the  Ad- 
dressers :'  do. 

Richard  Peart  and  William  Belcher, '  Address  to  the  Addres- 
sers,' and  '  Rights  of  Man  ;'  imprisonment  three  months. 

August  10.     Messrs.  Robinsons,  'Rights  of  Man  ;'  fine. 

Daniel  Holt,  bookseller,  Newark,  '  Address  to  the  Addres- 
sers ;'  four  years'  imprisonment,  and  £50  fine. 

These  prosecutions,  though  they  were  far  from  tranquillizing 
or  satisfying  the  public  mind,  were  certainly  followed  by  one 
of  their  intended  effects,  that  of  suppressing  the  circulation  of 
the  work.  Such  was  the  acrimony  with  which  the  admirers  ot 
Mr.  Paine  were  persecuted  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  that  it 
was  regarded  as  highly  dangerous  for  any  person  to  be  found 
with  the  book  in  his  possession ;  for  though  the  law  took  no 
cognizance  of  such  an  act,  the  individual  became  a  marked  ob- 
ject of  destruction,  and  so  vigilant  were  the  agents  of  tyranny, 
that  their  malice  was  sure  to  be  gratified  by  one  means  or 
other.  On  the  trials  of  Hardy,  Tooke,  and  Thelwall,  the  cir- 
cumstance of  their  having  patronised  the  4  Rights  of  Man'  was 
made  a  very  material  ground  for  the  charge  of  high  treason, 
and  though  the  accusation  failed,  the  obloquy,  which  by  this 
and  other  means  was  cast  upon  the  work,  tended  very  greatly 
to  prevent  its  farther  dissemination." 

We  have  hitherto  only  noticed  the  public  character  of  Mr. 
Paine  in  England.  Before  we  follow  him  into  France,  we 
shall  extract  from  Clio  Rickman's  life  of  Paine,  an  article  on 
his  civil,  social,  or  domestic  habits,  observing  that  Mr. 
Rickman  was  his  friend  and  companion,  a  man  of  amiable  dis- 
position, extensively  known,  and  esteemed  wherever  known. 
We  knew  the  family,  and  are  at  this  time  intimate  with  those 
who  were  familiar  with  and  companions  of  Mr.  Rickman. 
This  gentleman  remarks  : — 

"  Mr.  Paine's  life  in  London  was  a  quiet  round  of  philo- 
sophical leisure  and  enjoyment.  It  was  occupied  in  writing,  in 
a  small  epistolary  correspondence,  in  walking  about  with 
me  to  visit  different  friends,  occasionally  lounging  at  coffee- 
houses and  public  places,  or  being  visited  by  a  select  few. 
Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,  the  French  and  American  ambas- 
sadors, Mr.  Sharp,  the  engraver,  Romney,  the  painter,  Mrs. 
Wolstonecroft,  Joel  Barlow,  Mr.  Hull,  Mr.  Christie,  Dr. 
Priestly,  Dr.  Towers,  Colonel  Oswald,  the  walking  Stewart, 


MR.  TAINE  AND  THE  FRENCH  CONVENTION.        lit 

Captain  Sampson  Perry,  Mr.  Tuffin,  Mr.  William  Choppin, 
Captain  de  Stark,  Mr.  Home  Tooke,  &c.,  &c.,were  among  the 
number  of  his  friends  and  acquaintance  ;  and,  of  course,  as  he 
was  my  inmate,  the  most  of  my  associates  were  frequently  his. 
At  this  time  he  read  but  little,  took  his  nap  after  dinner,  and 
played  with  my  family  at  some  game  in  the  evening,  as  chess, 
dominoes,  or  draughts,  but  never  at  cards ;  in  recitations,  sing- 
ing, music,  &c. ;  or  passed  it  in  conversation  :  the  part  he  took 
in  the  latter  was  always  enlightened,  full  of  information,  enter- 
tainment, and  anecdote.  Occasionally  we  visited  enlightened 
friends,  indulged  in  domestic  jaunts  and  recreations  from 
home,  frequently  lounging  at  the  White  Bear,  Piccadilly,  with 
his  old  friend,  the  walking  Stewart,  and  other  clever  travellers 
from  France,  and  different  parts  of  Europe  and  America. 

When  by  ourselves  we  sat  very  late,  and  often  broke  in  on 
the  morning  hours,  indulging  the  reciprocal  interchange  of 
affectionate  and  confidential  intercourse.  '  Warm  from  the 
heart  and  faithful  to  its  fires,'  was  that  intercourse,  and  gave 
to  us  the  *  feast  of  reason  and  the  flow  of  soul.'  " 

"  To  return  to  Mr.  Paine  and  the  French  convention.  On  the 
25th  of  July,  1792,  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  issued  his  sangui- 
nary manifesto  :  in  this  he  stated  that  the  allies  were  resolved 
to  inflict  the  most  dreadful  punishments  on  the  national  as- 
sembly, and  on  the  city  of  Paris,  for  their  treatment  of  the 
royal  family ;  he  even  went  so  far  as  to  threaten  to  give  up 
the  place  to  military  execution.  The  publication  of  this  doc- 
ument threw  the  people  of  Paris  into  a  state  of  complete  con- 
fusion. They  became  frantic  and  furious,  and  the  manifesto, 
instead  of  lulling  them  into  repose,  drove  them  to  deeds  of 
desperation.  A  party  was  soon  formed  in  the  convention  for 
putting  the  king  to  death,  and  the  agitated  condition  of  the 
people  facilitated  the  design.  Mr.  Paine  labored  hard  to  pre- 
vent this  object  from  being  carried  into  execution,  but  though 
his  efforts  produced  a  few  converts  to  his  doctrine,  the  major- 
ity of  his  colleagues  were  too  enraged  with  the  duplicity  of 
the  king,  and  the  detestable  conduct  of  the  foreign  monarchs, 
with  whom  he  was  leagued,  to  listen  to  anything  short  of  the 
most  unlimited  vengeance.  The  conduct  of  Louis  was  too 
reprehensible  to  be  passed  over  in  silence  ;  Mr.  Paine  therefore 
voted  that  he  should  be  tried,  but  when  the  question  whether 
he  should  be  condemned  to  death,  was  brought  forward,  he 
opposed  it  by  every  argument  in  his  power.  His  exertions 
were,  however,  ineffectual,  and  sentence  of  death  was  passed, 
though  by  a  very  small  majority.  Mr.  Paine  was  determined 
to  let  slip  no  opportunity  of  protesting  against  this  measure, 
and  vvhen  the  question,  whether  the  sentence  should  be  carried 
into  execution,  was  discussed,  he  combated  the  proposition 
with  great  energy.  As  he  was  not  in  the  habit  of  pronouncing 


X 


\ 


112  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

French,  one  of  the  secretaries  read  his  discourse  translated 
from  the  original  English. 

It  is  evident  that  his  reasoning  was  thought  very  persuasive, 
since  those  who  had  heard  the  discourses  of  Buzot,  Condorcet, 
and  Brissot,  to  the  same  purpose  without  interruption,  broke 
out  in  murmurs  while  Paine's  opinion  was  reading  j  and 
Marat,  at  length,  losing  all  patience,  exclaimed  that  Paine  was 
a  quaker,  and  insinuated  that  his  mind  being  contracted  by 
the  narrow  principles  of  his  religion,  was  incapable  of  the 
liberality  that  was  requisite  for  condemning  men  to  death. 
This  shrewd  argument  not  being  thought  convincing,  the 
secretary  continued  to  read,  that  '  the  execution  of  the 
sentence,  instead  of  an  act  of  justice,  would  appear  to  all  the 
world,  and  particularly  to  their  allies,  the  American  States,  as 
an  act  of  vengeance,  and  that  if  he  were  sufficiently  master  of 
the  French  language,  he  would,  in  the  name  of  his  brethren  of 
America,  present  a  petition  at  their  bar  against  the  execution 
of  the  sentence.'  Marat  and  his  associates  said  that  these 
could  not  possibly  be  the  sentiments  of  Thomas  Paine,  and 
that  the  assembly  was  imposed  upon  by  a  false  translation. 
On  comparing  it  with  the  original,  however,  it  was  found 
correct. 

Though  these  exertions  were  frustrated,  they  were  attended 
with  one  effect,  that  of  rendering  Mr.  Paine  an  object  of  hatred 
among  the  most  violent  actors  in  the  revolution.  They 
found  that  he  could  not  be  induced  to  participate  in  their  acts 
of  cruelty  ;  they  dreaded  the  opposition  which  he  might  make 
to  these  sanguinary  deeds,  and  they  therefore  marked  him  out 
as  a  victim  to  be  sacrificed  the  first  opportunity. 

The  humanity  of  Mr.  Paine  was,  indeed,  one  of  the  most 
prominent  features  in  his  character,  and  it  was  equally  a 
matter  of  indifference  to  him  whether  the  exercise  of  this 
high  attribute  of  the  human  heart  was  required  on  a  trivial  or 
important,  a  public  or  private  occasion.  Of  his  strict  atten- 
tion to  his  public  duty  in  this  respect,  even  at  the  hazard  of 
his  own  safety,  we  have  a  convincing  proof  in  his  opposition 
to  the  execution  of  the  king,  and  of  his  humane  and  charitable 
disposition  in  a  private  point  of  view,  the  following  circum- 
stances are  sufficient  to  warrant  the  most  unqualified  con- 
clusion. 

Mr.  Paine  happened  to  be  dining  one  day  with  about  twenty 
friends  at  a  coffee-house  in  the  Palais  Egalite,  now  the  Palais 
Royal,  when,  unfortunately  for  the  harmony  of  the  company, 
a  captain  in  the  English  service  contrived  to  introduce  him- 
self as  one  of  the  party.  The  military  gentleman  was  a 
strenuous  supporter  of  the  constitution  in  church  and  state, 
and  a  decided  enemy  of  the  French  revolution.  After  the 
cloth  was  drawn,  the  conversation  chiefly  turned  on  the  state 
of  affairs  in  England,  and  the  means  which  had  been  adopted 


MR.  PAINE  AND  MAJOR  MUNRO.  113 

by  the  government  to  check  the  increase  of  political  knowl- 
edge. Mr.  Paine  delivered  his  opinion  very  freely,  and  much 
to  the  satisfaction  of  every  one  present,  with  the  exception  of 
Captain  Grimstone,  who  returned  his  arguments  by  calling 
him  a  traitor  to  his  country,  with  a  variety  of  terms  equally 
opprobious.  Mr.  Paine  treated  his  abuse  with  much  good 
humor,  which  rendered  the  captain  so  furious,  that  he  walked 
up  to  the  part  of  the  room  where  Mr.  Paine  was  sitting,  and 
struck  him  a  violent  blow,  which  nearly  knocked  him  off  his 
seat.  The  cowardice  of  this  behavior  from  a  stout  young  man 
toward  a  person  of  Mr.  Paine's  age  (he  being  then  upward  of 
sixty)  is  not  the  least  disgraceful  part  of  the  transaction. 
There  was,  however,  no  time  for  reflections  of  this  sort ;  an 
alarm  was  instantly  given,  that  the  captain  had  struck  a  citizen 
deputy  of  the  convention,  which  was  considered  an  insult  to 
the  nation  at  large  ;  the  offender  was  hurried  into  custody, 
and  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  Mr.  Paine  prevented 
him  from  being  executed  on  the  spot. 

It  ought  to  be  observed,  that  an  act  of  the  convention  had 
awarded  the  punishment  of  death  jto  any  one  who  should  be 
convicted  of  striking  a  deputy :  Mr.  Paine  was  therefore 
placed  in  a  very  unpleasant  situation.  He  immediately  ap- 
plied to  Barrere,  at  that  time  president  of  the  committee  of 
public  safety,  for  a  passport  for  his  imprudent  adversary,  who 
after  much  hesitation  complied  with  his  request.  It  likewise 
occasioned  Mr.  Paine  considerable  personal  inconvenience  to 
procure  his  liberation  ;  but  even  this  was  not  sufficient ;  the 
captain  was  without  friends,  and  penniless,  and  Mr.  Paine 
generously  supplied  him  with  money  to  defray  his  travelling 
expenses. 

The  gentleman  who  favored  me  with  the  account  of  the 
foregoing  circumstance,  has  likewise  informed  me  of  another 
anecdote  equally  honorable  to  Mr.  Paine's  feelings.  A  Major 
Munro,  who  at  the  beginning  of  the  revolution  was  employed 
by  Mr.  Pitt  to  send  an  account  to  the  ministry  of  what  was 
going  on  in  Paris,  remained  there  till  after  the  declaration  of 
xvar,  when  he,  with  many  others,  was  sent  to  prison.  He 
had  previously  occupied  the  same  hotel  with  Mr.  Paine,  and 
though  the  latter  was  aware  of  his  errand,  he  found  him  an 
intelligent  companion.  When  the  major  was  imprisoned,  he 
applied  to  Mr.  Paine,  who  after  considerable  trouble  obtained 
his  release.  The  major  was  recently  living,  and  it  is  but  fair  to 
say,  that  he  has  often  observed  to  his  friends,  he  should  ever 
feel  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Paine,  for  the  interest  he 
employed  in  procuring  his  discharge. 

I  have  already  noticed  the  feeling  of  hostility  with  which 
our  author's  exertions  in  the  cause  of  humanity  were  received 
by  some  of  the  members  of  the  convention.  Those  who  had 

15 


]  1  i  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

deserted  the  principles  of  liberty,  and  who,  from  the  most 
treacherous  and  tyrannical  motives,  were  anxious  to  plunge  the 
nation  into  a  state  of  anarchy,  were  naturally  the  enemies  of 
the  great  defender  of  the  '  Rights  of  Man,'  and  they  were  de- 
termined to  gratify  their  vengeance,  whenever  a  possibility  of 
so  doing  should  offer  itself.  Before  entering  into  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  steps  that  were  taken  for  this  purpose  I  will  give 
the  reader  an  account  of  the  mode  in  which  he  passed  his  time 
at  the  period  we  are  speaking  of. 

'In  Paris,  in  1793,'  he  observes,  '  I  had  lodgings  in  the  Rue 
Fauxbourg  St.  Denis,  No.  63.  They  were  the  most  agreeable 
for  situation  of  any  I  ever  had  in  Paris,  except  that  they  were 
too  remote  from  the  convention,  of  which  I  was  then  a  mem- 
ber. But  this  was  recompensed  by  their  being  also  remote 
from  the  alarms  and  confusion  into  which  the  interior  of  Paris 
was  then  often  thrown.  The  news  of  those  things  used  to 
arrive  to  us,  as  if  we  were  in  a  state  of  quietude  in  the  country. 
The  house,  which  was  enclosed  by  a  wall  and  gateway  from 
the  street,  was  a  good  deal  like  an  old  mansion  farm-house, 
and  the  court-yard  was  like  a  farm-yard  stocked  with  fowls, 
ducks,  turkeys,  and  geese  ;  which,  for  amusement,  we  used  to 
feed  out  of  the  windows  of  the  parlor  on  the  ground-floor. 
There  were  some  huts  for  rabbits,  and  a  stye  with  two  pigs. 
Beyond,  was  a  garden  of  more  than  an  acre  of  ground,  well 
laid  out,  and  stocked  with  excellent  fruit-trees.  The  orange, 
apricot,  and  the  green-gage  plum,  were  the  best  I  ever  tasted  ; 
and  it  is  the  only  place  where  I  saw  the  wild  cucumber,  which 
they  told  me  is  poisonous.  The  place  had  formerly  been 
occupied  by  some  curious  person.' 

In  allusion  to  the  dreadful  proceedings  which  were  making 
,suchhavoc  among  the  best  patriots  of  France,  he  continues  : — • 

4  As  for  myself,  I  used  to  find  some  relief  by  walking  alone 
in  the  garden  after  it  was  dark,  and  cursing  with  hearty  good 
will  the  authors  of  that  terrible  system  that  had  turned  the 
character  of  the  revolution  I  had  been  proud  to  defend. 

I  went  but  little  to  the  convention,  and  then  only  to  make 
my  appearance  ;  because  I  found  it  impossible  for  me  to  join 
in  their  tremendous  decrees,  and  useless  and  dangerous  to 
oppose  them.  My  having  voted  and  spoken  extensively,  more 
so  than  any  other  member,  against  the  execution  of  the  king, 
had  already  fixed  a  mark  upon  me  :  neither  dared  any  of  my 
associates  in  the  convention  to  translate,  and  speak  in  French 
for  me  anything  I  might  have  dared  to  write.  Pen 
and  ink  were  then  of  no  use  to  me.  No  good  could  be  done 
by  writing,  and  no  printer  dared  to  print ;  and  whatever  I 
might  have  written  for  my  private  amusement,  as  anecdotes 
of  the  times,  would  have  been  continually  exposed  to  be  ex- 
amined, and  tortured  into  any  meaning  that  the  rage  of  party 
might  fix  upon  it ;  and  as  to  softer  subjects,  my  heart  was  in 


(H 

I" 


"  AGE  OF  REASON,"  PART  I.  115 

distress  at  the  fate  of  my  friends,  and  my  harp  was  strung 
upon  the  weeping  willows.1 

At  this  period  the  national  convention  was  divided  into 
factions,  each  intent  on  their  own  aggrandizement,  and  each 
possessing  a  powerful  host  of  partisans  among  the  people. 
Terror,  hatred,  suspicion,  revenge,  and  every  other  dark  and 
deadly  passion,  had  supplanted  the  just,  liberal,  and  humane 
principles  which  marked  the  commencement  of  the  revolution, 
and  the  wide  empire  of  France  became  one'  vast  slaughter- 
house, where  the  supporters  of  freedom  and  the  advocates  of 
despotism  were  alternately  sacrificed  at  the  shrine  of  factious 
violence.  The  exertions  of  the  friends  of  liberty  sooner 
increased  than  lessened  the  effects  of  the  storrn,  and  to  defend 
the  interests  of  truth  and  the  rights  of  the  people,  was  to  in- 
vite destruction.  The  voice  of  humanity  was  mute,  for  the 
ear  of  humanity  was  closed.  It  is  painful  to  recur  to  these 
heart-rending  scenes,  but  justice  requires  it,  and  more  par- 
ticularly so,  as  Mr.  Paine  was  very  near  falling  a  victim  to  the 
violence  of  the  contending  factions. 

The  gentle,  conciliating,  and  open  method  in  which  he  had 
conducted  himself,  had  prevented  the  possibility  of  impeaching 
his  political  conduct,  and  to  this  we  must  attribute  the  circum- 
stance of  his  remaining  so  long  at  liberty.  The  first  attempt 
that  was  made  against  him,  was  by  means  of  an  act  of  the 
convention,  which  decreed  that  all  persons  residing  in  France 
who  were  born  in  England  should  be  imprisoned ;  but  as  Mr.  ,/ 
Paine  was  a  member  of  the  convention,  and  had  been  compli- 
mented with  the  title  of  '  citizen  of  France,'  the  decree  did  not 
extend  to  him.  A  motion  was  afterward  made  by  Bourdon 
de  1'Oise,  for  expelling  foreigners  from  the  convention.  It 
was  evident  from  the  speech  of  the  mover,  that  Mr.  Paine  was 
the  principal  object  aimed  at,  and  as  soon  as  the  expulsion  was 
effected,  an  application  was  made  to  the  two  committees  of 
public  safety  and  general  surety,  of  which  Robespierre  was 
the  dictator,  and  they  immediately  put  him  in  arrestation 
under  the  former  decree  for  imprisoning  persons  born  in  Eng- 
land. On  his  way  to  the  Luxembourg  he  contrived  to  call 
upon  his  intimate  friend  and  associate,  Joel  Barlow,  with 
whom  he  left  the  manuscript  of  the  first  part  of  the  'Age  of  , 
Reason.'  *  This  work  he  intended  to  be  the  last  of  his  life,  v 
but  the  proceedings  in  France,  during  the  year  1793,  induced 
him  to  delay  it  no  longer.  '  The  circumstance,'  says  he,  '  that 
has  now  taken  place  in  France,  of  the  total  abolition  of  the 
whole  national  order  of  priesthood,  and  of  everything  apper- 
taining to  compulsive  systems  of  religion,  and  compulsive 
articles  of  faith,  has  not  only  precipitated  my  intention,  but 
rendered  a  work  of  this  kind  exceedingly  necessary,  lest  in 

*  See  Mr  Barlow's  letter,  page  135. 


116  HFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

the  general  wreck  of  superstition,  of  false  systems  of  govern- 
ment, and  false  theology,  we  lose  sight  of  morality,  of  humanity, 
and  of  the  theology  that  is  true.'  At  the  time  this  performance 
was  written,  Mr.  Paine  was  in  almost  daily  expectation  of 
being  sent  to  the  guillotine,  where  many  of  his  friends  had 
already  perished  ;  the  doctrines,  therefore,  which  it  inculcates, 
must  he  regarded  as  the  sentiments  of  a  dying  man.  This  is 
at  least  a  conclusive  proof  that  the  work  was  not  the  result  of 
a  wish  to  deceive,  that^  whether  true  or  false,  it  was  the  effu- 
sion of  a  disinterested  mind  ;  and,  in  ordinary  cases,  the  fact 
of  a  man  writing  a  hook  under  such  circumstances,  would  he 
admitted  as  a  logical  evidence  of  the  rectitude  of  the  doctrines 
it  contained.  I  do  not,  however,  intend  to  enter  into  any 
discussion  relative  to  our  author's  religious  opinions,  until  we 
arrive  at  the  second  part  of  the  work.  It  is,  therefore,  only 
necessary  at  present,  to  observe,  that  Mr.  Paine  had  measured 
his  time  with  such  a  degree  of  precision,  that  he  had  not  finish- 
ed the  book  more  than  six  hours  before  he  was  arrested  and 
conveyed  to  the  Luxembourg.* 

Mr.  Paine  had  remained  in  prison  about  three  weeks,  when 
it  was  ascertained  to  the  satisfaction  of  every  one  in  Paris^, 
except  the  tyrants  who  had  sent  him  there,  that  he  had  com- 
mitted no  offence  ;  and  in  consequence  of  this,  the  Americans 
residing  in  that  city,  went  in  a  body  to  the  convention  to  de- 
mand the  liberation  of  their  fellow-citizen  and  friend.  The 
following  is  a  copy  of  the  address  presented  by  them  to  the 
president  of  the  convention  ;  an  address  which  sufficiently 
shows  the  high  estimation  in  which  Mr.  Paine  was  at  this 
time  held  by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  : — 

'  Citizens !  The  French  nation  had  invited  the  most  illus- 
trious of  all  foreign  nations  to  the  honor  of  representing  her. 

Thomas  Paine,  the  apostle  of  liberty  in  America,  a  profound 
and  valuable  philosopher,  a  virtuous  and  esteemed  citizen, 
came  to  France  and  took  a  seat  among  you.  Particular  cir* 
cumstances  rendered  necessary  the  decree  to  put  under  arrest 
all  the  English  residing  in  France. 

Citizens !  representatives !  We  come  to  demand  of  you 
Thomas  Paine,  in  the  name  of  the  friends  of  liberty,  and  in 
the  name  of  the  Americans,  your  brothers  and  allies ;  was 
there  anything  more  wanted  to  obtain  your  demand  we  would 
tell  you.  Do  not  give  to  the  leagued  despots  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  Paine  in  irons.  We  shall  inform  you  that  the  seals  put 
upon  the  papers  of  Thomas  Paine  have  been  taken  off,  that 
the  committee  of  general  safety  examined  them,  and  far  from 

*  Had  such  a  singularly  favorable  coincidence  as  this  happened  in  the  trans- 
actions of  a  Christian  theological  writer,  it  would  undoubtedly  have  been  ascribed 
to  the  interposition  of  Divine  Providence,  but  in  the  present  instance  (whatever 
rational  men  may  think  on  the  subject)  the  faithful  will  perhaps  find  it  conve- 
nient to  attribute  the  circumstance  to  the  influence  of  a  power  of  quite  an  opposite 
character. 


MR.  fAINE  IN  PRISON.  117 

finding  among  them  any  dangerous  propositions,  they  only 
found  the  love  of  liberty  which  characterized  him  all  his  life- 
time, that  eloquence  of  nature  and  philosophy  which  made 
him  the  friend  of  mankind,  and  those  principles  of  public 
morality  which  merited  the  hatred  of  kings,  and  the  affection 
of  his  fellow-citizens. 

In  short,  citizens !  if  you  permit  us  to  restore  Thomas  Paine 
to  the  embraces  of  his  fellow-citizens,  we  offer  to  pledge  our- 
selves as  securities  for  his  conduct  during  the  short  time  he 
shall  remain  in  France.' 

The  Americans  who  presented  the  foregoing  address,  re- 
ceived for  answer,  that  4  Mr.  Paine  was  born  in  England,'  and 
it  was  likewise  hinted  to  them  that  their  attempt  to  reclaim 
him  as  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  could  not  be  listened  to, 
in  consequence  of  its  not  being  authorized  by  the  American 
government. 

A  few  days  after  this,  all  communication  between  persons  * 
imprisoned,  and  any  person  without  the  prison,  was  cut  off,  by  \ 
an  order  of  the  police.  In  this  forlorn  and  solitary  situation 
Mr.  Paine  continued  for  six  months,  and  the  only  hope  that 
remained  for  him  was,  that  a  new  minister  would  arrive  from 
America  to  supersede  Morris,  and  that  he  would  be  authorized 
to  inquire  into  the  causes  of  his  imprisonment ;  '  but  even  this 
hope,'  Mr.  Paine  observes,  *  in  the  state  in  which  matters  were 
daily  arriving,  was  too  remote  to  have  any  consolatory  effect  $ 
and  I  contented  myself  with  the  thought  that  I  might  be  re- 
membered when  it  would  be  too  late.' 

During  this  long  imprisonment  he  amused  himself  as  well 
as  such  a  gloomy  situation  would  allow,  by  writing  various 
pieces  of  fancy,  both  in  poetry  and  prose,  some  of  which  have 
since  been  published.  He  likewise  wrote  a  considerable  pro-  / 
portion  of  the  second  part  of  the  '  Age  of  Keason  '  during  his  v 
incarceration.  When  he  had  been  in  prison  about  eight 
months,  he  was  seized  with  a  violent  fever,  which  nearly  de- 
prived him  of  life,  and  from  the  effects  of  which  he  never 
afterward  perfectly  recovered.  This  fever,  which  rendered 
him  completely  insensible  for  more  than  a  month,  was  evi- 
dently the  means  of  preserving  his  life.  Had  he  remained  in 
health  he  would  probably,  according  to  the  routine  of  the 
times,  have  been  dragged  before  the  tribunal,  and  sent  to  the 
guillotine,  without  the  trouble  of  proving  either  his  guilt  or 
his  innocence.  But  the  fever  fortunately  averted  the  im- 
pending danger,  and  the  first  thing  he  heard  of  after  his  recov- 
ery was  the  fall  of  Robespierre.  But  the  fate  of  this  sanguinary 
man  did  not  restore  him  to  liberty.  The  desolator  was 
overthrown,  but  his  faction  still  remained,  and,  though  con- 
siderably humbled,  their  hostility  toward  Mr.  Paine  was  un- 
abated. The  latter  seeing  that  several  of  his  fellow-prisoners 
were  released,  addressed  a  memorial  to  Mr.  Monroe  (who  it 


118 


LIFE    OF   THOMAS    PAINE. 


appears  had  received  no  instructions  from  the  American 
government  respecting  Mr.  Paine),  on  the  subject  of  his  con- 
finement, who  behaved  toward  him  with  great  kindness  and 
attention.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  Mr.  Monroe's  letter  to 
Mr.  Paine  on  this  occasion  : — 

PARIS,  September  18,  1794. 

1  DEAR  SIR  :  I  was  favored,  soon  after  my  arrival  here,  with 
several  letters  from  you,  and  more  latterly  with  one  in  the 
character  of  a  memorial  upon  the  subject  of  your  confine- 
ment :  and  should  have  answered  them  at  the  times  they  were 
respectively  written,  had  I  not  concluded,  you  would  have  cal- 
culated with  certainty  upon  the  deep  interest  I  take  in  your 
welfare,  and  the  pleasure  with  which  I  shall  embrace  every 
opportunity  in  my  power  to  serve  you.  I  should  still  pursue 
the  same  course,  and  for  reasons  which  must  obviously  occur, 
if  I  did  not  find  that  you  are  disquieted  with  apprehensions 
upon  interesting  points,  and  which  justice  to  you  and  our 
country  equally  forbid  you  should  entertain.  You  mention 
>  that  you  have  been  informed  you  are  not  considered  as  an 
American  citizen  by  the  Americans,  and  that  you  have  like- 
wise heard  that  I  had  no  instructions  respecting  you  by  the 
government.  I  doubt  not  the  persons  who  gave  you  the  infor- 
mation meant  well,  but  I  suspect  he  did  not  even  convey 
accurately  his  own  ideas  on  the  first  point :  for  I  presume  the 
most  he  could  say  is,  that  you  had  likewise  become  a  French 
citizen,  and  which  by  no  means  deprives  you  of  being  an 
American  one.  Even  this,  however,  may  be  doubted,  I  mean 
the  acquisition  of  citizenship  in  France,  and  I  confess  you 
have  said  much  to  show  that  it  has  not  been  made.  I  really 
suspect  that  this  was  all  that  the  gentleman  who  wrote  to  you, 
and  those  Americans  he  heard  speak  upon  the  subject,  meant. 
It  becomes  my  duty,  however,  to  declare  to  you,  that  I  con- 
sider you  as  an  American  citizen,  and  that  you  are  considered 
universally  in  that  character  by  the  people  of  America.  As 
such  you  are  entitled  to  my  attention  ;  and  so  far  as  it  can  be 
given,  consistently  with  those  obligations  which  are  mutual 
between  every  government  and  even  transient  passenger,  you 
shall  receive  it. 

The  congress  have  never  decided  upon  the  subject  of  citizen- 
ship, in  a  manner  to  regard  the  present  case.  By  being  with 
us  through  the  revolution,  you  are  of  our  country  as  abso- 
lutely as  if  you  had  been  born  there,  and  you  are  no  more  of 
England  than  every  native  American  is.  This  is  the  true 
doctrine  in  the  present  case,  so  far  as  it  becomes  complicated 
with  any  other  consideration.  I  have  mentioned  it  to  make 
you  easy  upon  the  only  point  which  could  give  you  any  dis- 
quietude. 

It  is  necessary  for  me  to  tell  you,  how  much  all  your  coun- 


MONROE  S  LETTER  TO  PAINE.  119 

trymen — I  speak  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people — are  interested 
in  your  welfare.  They  have  not  forgotten  the  history  of  their 
own  revolution,  and  the  difficult  scenes  through  which  they 
passed  j  nor  do  they  review  its  several  stages  without  reviving 
in  their  bosoms  a  due  sensibility  of  the  merits  of  those  who 
served  them  in  that  great  and  arduous  conflict.  The  crime  I- 

of  ingratitude  has  not  yet  stained,  and  I  trust  never  will  stain,  >/ 
our  national  character.  You  are  considered  by  them,  as  not 
only  having  rendered  important  services  in  our  own  revolution, 
but  as  being,  on  a  more  extensive  scale,  the  friend  of  human 
rights,  and  a  distinguished  and  able  advocate  in  favor  of  pub- 
lic liberty.  To  the  welfare  of  Thomas  Paine,  the  Americans 
are  not,  nor  can  they  be,  indifferent. 

Of  the  sense  which  the  president  has  always  entertained  of 
your  merits,  and  of  his  friendly  disposition  toward  you,  you 
are  too  well  assured,  to  require  any  declaration  of  it  from  me. 
That  I  forward  his  wishes  in  seeking  your  safety  is  what  T 
well  know :  and  this  will  form  an  additional  obligation  on  me 
to  perform  what  I  should  otherwise  consider  as  a  duty. 

You  are  in  my  opinion,  at  present,  menaced  by  no  kind  of 
danger.  To  liberate  you  will  be  an  object  of  my  endeavors, 
and  as  soon  as  possible.  But  you  must,  until  that  event  shall 
be  accomplished,  bear  your  situation  with  patience  and  forti- 
tude ;  you  will  likewise  have  the  justice  to  recollect,  that  I 
am  placed  here  upon  a  difficult  theatre,  many  important  ob- 
jects to  attend  to,  and  with  few  to  consult.  It  becomes  me 
in  pursuit  of  those,  to  regulate  my  conduct  with  respect  to 
each,  as  to  the  manner  and  the  time,  as  will,  in  my  judgment, 
be  best  calculated  to  accomplish  the  whole. 

With  great  esteem  and  respect  consider  me  personally  your 
friend. 

JAMES  MONROE.' 


Mr.  Paine  was  released  from  prison  on  the  4th  of  November, 
1794,  having  been  in  confinement  for  eleven  months. 

After  his  liberation  he  was  kindly  invited  to  the  house  of 
Mr.  Monroe,  with  whom  he  remained  for  about  eighteen 
months.  I  intend  to  be  as  brief  in  my  extracts  as  the  subject 
will  admit ;  but  the  following,  which  is  taken  from  one  of 
his  letters,  written  after  his  return  to  America,  is  so  descrip- 
tive of  his  situation  while  in  prison,  and  of  another  narrow 
escape  which  he  had  in  addition  to  the  one  already  noticed, 
that  I  consider  it  necessary  for  the  information  of  the  reader. 

*  I  was  one  of  the  nine  members  that  composed  the  first 
committee  of  constitution.  Six  of  them  have  been  destroyed. 
Syeyes  and  myself  have  survived.  He  by  bending  with  the 
times,  and  I  by  not  bending.  The  other  survivor  joined  Ro- 
bespierre, and  signed  with  him  the  warrant  of  my  arrestation. 
After  the  fall  of  Robespierre,  he  was  seized  and  imprisoned 


, 


120  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

in  his  turn,  and  sentenced  to  transportation.  He  has  since 
apologized  to  me  for  having  signed  the  warrant,  by  saying,  he 
felt  himself  in  danger  and  was  obliged  to  do  it. 

Herault  Sechelles,  an  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  a 
good  patriot,  was  my  suppliant  as  member  of  the  committee 
of  constitution ;  that  is,  he  was  to  supply  my  place,  if  I  had 
not  accepted  or  had  resigned,  being  next  in  number  of  votes 
to  me.  He  was  imprisoned  in  the  Luxembourg  with  me,  was 
taken  to  the  tribunal  and  the  guillotine,  and  I,  his  principal, 
was  left. 

There  were  but  two  foreigners  in  the  convention,  Anacharsis 
Cloots  and  myself.  We  were  both  put  out  of  the  convention 
by  the  same  vote,  arrested  by  the  same  order,  and  carried  to 
prison  together  the  same  night.  He  was  taken  to  the  guillo- 
tine, and  I  was  again  left.  Joel  Barlow  was  with  us  when  we 
went  to  prison. 

Joseph  Lebon,  one  of  the  vilest  characters  that  ever  existed, 
and  who  made  the  streets  of  Arras  run  with  blood,  was  my 
suppliant  as  member  of  the  convention  for  the  department  of 
the  Pais  de  Calais.  When  I  was  put  out  of  the  convention  he 
came  and  took  my  place.  When  I  was  liberated  from  prison, 
and  voted  again  into  the  convention,  he  was  sent  to  the  same 
prison  and  took  my  place  there,  and  he  went  to  the  guillotine 
instead  of  me.  He  supplied  my  place  all  the  way  through. 

One  hundred  and  sixty-eight  persons  were  taken  out  of  the 
Luxembourg  in  one  night,  and  a  hundred  and  sixty  of  them 
guillotined  the  next  day,  of  which  I  know  I  was  to  have  been 
one ;  and  the  manner  I  escaped  that  fate  is  curious,  and  has  all 
the  appearance  of  accident. 

The  room  in  which  I  was  lodged  was  on  the  ground  floor, 
and  one  of  a  long  range  of  rooms  under  a  gallery,  and  the 
door  of  it  opened  outward  and  flat  against  the  wall ;  so  that 
when  it  was  open  the  inside  of  the  door  appeared  outward,  and 
the  contrary  when  it  was  shut.  I  had  three  comrades,  fellow- 
prisoners  with  me,  Joseph  Vanhuile  of  Bruges,  since  president 
of  the  municipality  of  that  town,  Michael  Robins,  and  Bastini 
of  Louvain. 

When  persons  by  scores  and  hundreds  were  to  be  taken  out v 
of  prison  for  the  guillotine,  it  was  always  done  in  the  night,  and 
those  who  performed  that  office  had  a  private  mark  or  signal  by 
which  they  knew  what  rooms  to  go  to,  and  what  number  to 
take.  We,  as  I  have  said,  were  four,  and  the  door  of  our  room 
was  marked  unobserved  by  us,  with  that  number  in  chalk  ,•  but 
it  happened,  if  happening  is  a  proper  word,  that  the  mark  was 
put  on  when  the  door  was  open  and  flat  against  the  wall,  and 
thereby  came  on  the  inside  when  we  shut  it  at  night,  and  the  de- 
stroying angel  passed  by  it.  A  few  days  after  this  Robespierre 
fell,  and  the  American  ambassador  arrived  and  reclaimed  me, 
and  invited  me  to  his  house. 


RELEASE  FROM  PRISON.  121 

During  the  whole  of  my  imprisonment,  prior  to  the  fall  of 
Robespierre,  there  was  no  time  when  I  could  think  my  life 
worth  twenty-four  hours,  and  my  mind  was  made  up  to  meet  its 
fate.  The  Americans  in  Paris  went,  in  a  body  to  the  convention 
to  reclaim  me,  but  without  success.  There  was  no  party  among 
them  with  respect  to  me.  My  only  hope  then  rested  on  the 
government  of  America  that  it  would  remember  me.  But  the 
icy  heart  of  ingratitude,  in  whatever  man  it  may  be  placed,  has 
neither  feeling  nor  sense  of  honor.  The  letter  of  Mr.  Jefferson 
has  served  to  wipe  away  the  reproach,  and  done  justice  to  the 
mass  of  the  people  of  America.' 

Soon  after  Mr.  Paine's  release  from  prison  the  convention 
passed  a  unanimous  vote  to  invite  him  to  return  to  the  seat  he 
had  formerly  occupied.  The  times  were  still  dangerous,  as 
well  from  without  as  within,  for  the  coalition  of  foreign  despots 
was  unbroken,  and  the  constitution  not  settled.  Sir.  Paine 
however,  thought  proper  to  accept  the  invitation,  being  resolved 
to  show  that  he  was  not  to  be  alarmed  either  by  prospects  or 
retrospects  of  danger,  and  that  his  principles  were  neither  to 
be  perverted  by  disgust  nor  weakened  by  misfortune. 

He  was  liberated,  as  before  stated,  in  November,  1794? ;  his 
bodily  health  was  at  this  time  very  much  impaired  by  long 
confinement,  and  in  September  following  he  was  taken  danger- 
ously ill.  He  states  that  he  had  felt  the  approach  of  his  dis- 
order for  some  time,  which  occasioned  him  to  hasten  to  a  con- 
clusion of  the  second  part  of  the  '  Age  of  Reason.'  This  work 
was  published  at  Paris,  early  in  1795,  and  was  very  shortly 
afterward  reprinted  in  England,  and  the  United  States.  At  the 
time  he  wrote  the  first  part  of  the  work  he  was  without  a  bible, 
nor  could  he  procure  one.  The  investigation  which  it  con- 
tained was  therefore  rather  a  general,  than  a  detailed  inquiry  ./ 
into  the  Jewish  and  Christian  systems  of  belief.  The  first 
point  which  he  attacks  is  the  doctrine  of  revelation.  He  ad- 
mits the  possibility,  though  he  denies  the  probability  of  the 
Supreme  Being  having  ever  held  personal  communication  with 
man.  But  even  allowing  this  to  be  the  case,  he  observes,  that 
'  revelation  is  necessarily  limited  to  the  first  communication. 
After  this  it  is  only  on  account  of  something  which  that  person 
says  was  revelation  made  to  him  ;  and  though  he  may  find  hi  m- 
self  obliged  to  believe  it,  it  cannot  be  incumbent  on  me  to  believe 
it  in  the  same  manner,  for  it  was  not  revelation  made  to  me,  / 
and  I  have  only  his  word  for  it  that  it  was  made  to  him.'*  v 

In  this  manner  he  proceeds  to  controvert  the  principal  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  Christianity.     He  asserts  that  it  is  a  system 
founded  entirely  upon  hearsay  evidence,  and  that  we  are  not     / 
obliged  to  believe  it.     He  next  endeavors  to  show  the  similari- 
ty of  the  heathen  mythology,  and  that  of  the  Christians,  from 

*  Age  of  Reason,  Part  I. 
16 


122 


LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 


which  he  infers  that  the  latter  is  a  copy  of  the  former.  Among 
the  novel  positions  which  he  advanced,  was  an  argument  to 
prove  that  the  word  prophet  had  changed  its  original  meaning, 
that  in  former  times  it  was  synonymous  with  that  of  poet  or 
musician  ;  to  prove  this  he  cites  the  part  of  the  Bible,  where 
we  are  told  the  prophets  of  old  performed  the  functions  of 
their  vocation  by  means  of  pipes,  tabrets,  horns,  harps,  and 
other  musical  instruments.  Having  declared  his  disbelief  of 
what  is  called  revealed  religion,  and  his  reasons  for  such  dis- 
belief, he  next  gives  his  opinion  as  to  what  he  conceives  to  be 
the  only  true  word  of  God — the  only  true  revelation ;  and  as 
his  ideas  on  this  subject  are  of  no  ordinary  stamp,  I  insert 
them  in  his  own  words,  as  the  best  mode  of  doing  justice  to 
the  author : — 

1  It  is  only  in  the  CREATION  that  all  our  ideas  and  conceptions 
of  a  word  of  God  can  unite.  The  creation  speaketh  a  univer- 
sal language,  independently  of  human  speech  or  human  lan- 
guage, miltiplied  and  various  as  they  be.  It  is  an  ever-existing 
original,  which  every  man  can  read.  It  cannot  be  forged  j  it 
cannot  be  counterfeited ;  it  cannot  be  lost ;  it  cannot  be  alter- 
ed ;  it  cannot  be  suppressed.  It  does  not  depend  upon  the 
will  of  man  whether  it  shall  be  published  or  not :  it  publishes 
itself  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other.  It  preaches  to  all 
nations  and  to  all  worlds ;  and  this  word  of  God  reveals  to  man 
all  that  is  necessary  for  man  to  know  of  God. 

Do  we  want  to  contemplate  his  power  1  We  see  it  in  the  immen- 
sity of  the  creation.  Do  we  want  to  contemplate  his  wisdom  1 
We  see  it  in  the  unchangeable  order  by  which  the  incompre- 
hensible Whole  is  governed.  Do  we  want  to  contemplate  his 
munificence  1  We  see  it  in  the  abundance  with  which  he  fills 
the  earth.  Do  we  want  to  contemplate  his  mercy  1  We  see 
it  in  his  not  withholding  that  abundance  even  from  the  unthank- 
ful. In  fine,  do  we  want  to  know  what  God  is  1  Search  not 
the  book  called  the  Scripture,  which  any  human  hand  might 
make,  but  the  scripture  called  the  Creation.' 

It  is  not  hazarding  too  much  to  say  that  the  above  breathes 
as  pure  a  spirit  of  morality  and  philosophy,  as  anything  that 
was  ever  written  on  the  subject,  in  either  ancient  or  modern 
times.  It  is  superior  to  the  bible  description  of  the  Deity,  for 
it  ascribes  to  him  none  of  those  weaknesses  and  passions  which 
are  so  frequently  attributed  to  him  by  the  authors  of  that  book. 
It  is  not  at  all  wonderful  that  the  ministers  of  a  corrupt  system 
of  religion  should  calumniate  the  character  of  a  work,  which 
inculcates  the  practice  of  morality  as  the  only  religious  duty 
that  men  are  bound  to  perform,  which  teaches  the  most  sub- 
lime and  reverential  ideas  of  the  Creator  of  the  universe,  and 
which  represents  the  intercessions  of  ignorant  and  bigoted 
priests,  as  unnecessary  either  to  the  present  or  future  happi- 
ness of  mankind — it  is  not  at  all  wonderful  that  such  men 


WATSON'S  APOLOGY — PERSECUTION.  123 

should  look  upon  such  a  work  with  horror,  and  load  its  author 
with  every  epithet  of  calumny  and  reproach.  They  are  in  re- 
ligion, what  courtiers  are  under  a  limited  monarchy.  Both 
parties  are,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  aware  of  the  farce,  and 
they  tremble  at  the  approach  of  reason  and  investigation. 

From  a  great  portion  of  the  work  before  us,  it  is  evident  that 
Mr.  Paine  possessed  an  extensive  knowledge  of  astronomy  and 
mathematics,  and  the  mode  in  which  he  applies  these  branch- 
es of  science,  to  prove  the  ignorance  of  the  bible  writers,  and 
the  falsehood  of  their  statements,  is  worth  the  reader's  atten- 
tion. For  this,  however,  I  must  refer  him  to  the  work  itself. 
The  extract  which  I  have  already  given  will  enable  any  person 
to  form  an  idea  of  the  general  character  of  the  book,  its  prin- 
ciples and  tendency ;  I  therefore  proceed  to  offer  a  few  obser- 
vations on  the  second  part. 

This  work  is  divided  into  an  examination,  first,  of  the  Old, 
and,  secondly,  of  the  New  Testament.  In  the  former  our  / 
author  examines  the  different  books  of  the  Bible  in  rotation, 
and  proves,  very  clearly,  as  far  as  the  evidence  of  circumstan- 
ces can  go,  that  they  were  not  written  by  the  persons  to  whom 
they  are  ascribed,  and,  therefore,  that  they  are  anonymous  and 
without  authority.  He  likewise  reasons  very  forcibly  against 
the  various  acts  of  horrid  cruelty,  and  gross  immorality,  which 
are  attributed  to  the  Almighty  by  Moses,  and  the  other  reputed 
authors  of  the  Bible.  In  this  examination  the  ancient  Jews 
are  stripped  of  the  disguise  in  which  commentators  generally 
clothe  them,  and  exposed  in  their  true  character — that  of  the 
most  ignorant  and  ferocious  race  of  beings  which  evei  disgra- 
ced the  character  of  human  nature.  Their  ignorance  is  in- 
ferred from  the  circumstance  of  there  not  being  in  the  whole 
Bible  more  than  one  book  in  which  any  branch  of  useful  or 
scientific  knowledge  is  mentioned  (the  book  of  Job)  and  this 
it  appears  is  a  book  of  the  Gentiles  and  not  of  the  Jews.  The 
ferocity  of  their  character  is  established  by  the  almost  innu-  / 
merable  and  unprovoked  murders  with  which  the  Scriptures  V 
are  filled,  and  which  are  blasphemously  ascribed  to  the  God  of 
mercy  and  eternal  beneficence. 

These  are  the  principal  grounds  on  which  our  author  argues 
against  the  divinity  of  the  Bible.  In  the  examination  of  the 
New  Testament,  he  exposes  the  contradictions  of  the  different  / 

writers,  he  cites  authorities  to  prove  that  the  gospels  were  not 
written  till  a  long  time  after  the  evangelists  are  reported  to  have 
lived  ;  and  that  they  were  not  formed  into  a  book  for  more  than 
three  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  Christ.  They  were  then 
collected  together  by  the  church,  and  it  was  decided  by  vote 
which  were  and  which  were  not  the  word  of  God. 

The  work  likewise  contains  some  fine  ideas  on  the  doctrine 
of  immortality  :  these  form  a  striking  contrast  to  the  gloomy 
and  unnatural  doctrines  of  the  resurrection. 


124«  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

On  a  superficial  view  of  the  subject  it  appears  wonderful  that 
a  system  of  belief  which  is  liable  to  so  many  objections,  not 
only  on  the  score  of  probability,  but  on  that  of  the  common 
principles  of  morality,  should  have  obtained  so  general  an  in- 
fluence among  mankind.  But  when  we  look  at  the  means 
which  have  been  used  to  propagate  its  principles,  we  may  cease 
to  be  surprised  at  the  general  credence  it  has  acquired.  Its 
professors  preached  peace  and  humility,  until,  by  the  increase 
of  their  numbers,  they  were  enabled  to  assume  a  more  formi- 
dable tone,  but  so  slow  was  their  progress,  and  with  such  gen- 
eral contempt  were  their  doctrines  viewed,  that  even  this  ac- 
cession of  strength  did  not  take  place  until  three  or  four  cen- 
turies after  the  death  of  their  founder.  As  the  number  of  their 
converts  increased,  their  temporal  power  became  more  exten- 
sive, and  all  attempts  to  investigate  the  truth  of  their  preten- 
sions were  put  down  as  impious  heresies.  Thus,  in  the  first 
instance,  their  faith  was  protected  by  its  obscurity  and  the  pro- 
fessed humility  of  its  disciples ;  in  latter  times  it  has  been  pro- 
moted by  means  of  the  sword,  and  the  assiduity  of  the  priest- 
hood j  while  all  inquiry  into  the  probability  or  improbability 
of  its  precepts,  has  been  suppressed  by  the  powerful  reasoning 
of  the  fagot  and  the  inquisition. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  New  Testament  contains  some 
good  moral  maxims,  but  these  are  no  proofs  of  its  divinity,  for 
they  existed  thousands  of  years  before  the  appearance  of  Christ, 
and  they  will  exist  when  all  the  desolating  wars  and  shocking 
persecutions  which  have  been  occasioned  by  the  Christian 
system  of  faith,  shall  be  sunk  in  the  Lethean  stream  of  oblivion. 
They  are  inherent  in  human  nature,  and  they  consequently  do 
not  depend  upon  the  belief  of  any  particular  system  of  opinions. 
It  may  suit  the  convenience  of  the  pious  teachers  of  our  es- 
tablished religion,  to  tell  us  that  the  practice  of  virtue,  the 
foundation  of  our  happiness  here  and  of  our  hopes  hereafter, 
are  dependant  on  the  practice  of  their  absurd  ceremonies,  and 
the  belief  of  their  improbable  doctrines ;  but  it  is  impossible 
for  the  reflecting  mind  to  discover  in  these  dogmas  anything 
more  than  the  motives  of  an  interested  priesthood,  or  the  effu- 
sions of  a  distempered  imagination.  The  principles  of  moral 
virtue  are  essentially  distinct  from  the  belief  of  any  existing 
system  of  faith,  they  result  from  the  relations  of  a  being  with 
his  fellow-beings ;  justice  toward  ourselves  is  wisdom;  justice 
toward  others  is  virtue.  In  society  all  is  relative,  there  is  no 
happiness  independent ;  we  are  compelled  to  sacrifice  a  part 
of  what  we  might  enjoy,  not  to  be  deprived  of  the  whole,  and 
to  secure  a  portion  against  all  assaults.  Even  here  the  balance 
is  in  favor  of  reason. 

However  laborious  may  be  the  life  of  the  honest  man,  however 
encompassed  with  dangers,  however  beset  with  difficulties  it 
may  be,  that  of  the  vicious  character  must  be  more  so.  He  can 


"  AGE  OP  REASON,"  PART  II.  125 

seldom  be  tranquil  who  stands  in  opposition  to  the  interests  of 
his  fellow-men  5  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  conceal  from  him- 
self that  he  is  surrounded  by  enemies,  or  by  those  who  are 
ready  to  become  so,  and  this  situation  is  always  painful,  how- 
ever splendid  may  be  appearances.  Let  us  add  to  these  con- 
siderations, the  sublime  rectitude  of  instinct,  which  corruption 
may  lead  astray,  but  which  no  false  philosophy  can  ever  anni- 
hilate, which  impels  us  to  admire  and  love  wisdom  and  gener- 
osity of  conduct,  as  we  do  grandeur  and  beauty  in  nature  and 
the  arts  ;  and  we  shall  have  the  source  of  human  virtue,  inde- 
pendent of  every  religious  system  of  the  intricacies  of  meta- 
physics, and  of  the  impostures  of  priests. 

The  publication  of  the  '  Age  of  Reason '  called  forth  a  great 
variety  of  replies,  but  the  only  one  which  is  now  remembered 
is  the  Bishop  of  Llandaff 's  '  Apology  for  the  Bible.7  It  is 
much  to  be  doubted  whether  this  work,  which  is  written  in 
open  defiance  of  the  plainest  rules  of  reason  and  logic,  would 
have  survived  the  fate  of  its  companions  in  the  same  cause,  if 
it  had  been  written  by  any  other  person.  His  character  in  the 
world  of  letters,  and  in  several  of  the  departments  in  science, 
coupled  with  his  conduct  in  parliament,  which  induced  many 
to  regard  him  as  an  independent  promoter  of  the  gospel,  gave 
the  work  an  importance  which  its  contents  by  no  means  de- 
served, and  the  friends  of  the  church  lost  no  time  in  publishing 
it  throughout  the  country.  Their  zeal  in  this  respect,  per- 
haps, in  some  measure,  answered  the  purpose  they  had  in 
view,  but  it  certainly  conferred  no  honor  on  the  bishop's 
literary  reputation. 

Whether  the  advocates  of  the  Christian  faith  were  or  were 
not  conscious  of  the  imperfections  of  their  system,  it  is  evi-  y/ 
dent  they  were  afraid  of  an  inquiry  into  its  merits,  and  a  pros- 
ecution was  commenced  against  Mr.  Williams,  the  publisher 
of  the  '  Age  of  Reason.'  By  way  of  giving  a  color  to  this 
proceeding,  they  retained  Mr.  Erskine  on  the  part  of  the 
crown,  who  strained  every  effort  to  procure  a  verdict.  Mr. 
Kyd  made  an  ingenious  and  argumentative  reply,  in  behalf  of 
the  defendant,  but  the  jury,  being  special,  readily  found  him 
guilty,  June  4,  1797.  Mr.  Paine  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Erskine  on  the  proceedings  of  this  trial,  in  which  he  ridicules 
the  absurd  practice  of  discussing  theological  subjects  before 
such  men  as  special  juries  are  generally  composed  of,  and  / 
cites  fresh  evidence  in  support  of  his  former  arguments 
respecting  the  Bible. 

Mr.  Paine  now  attended  his  duty  as  a  member  of  the  con- 
vention, in  which  capacity  he  delivered  his  opinions  whenever 
occasion  required.  In  April,  1795,  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  form  another  new  constitution  (the  former  one  having  been 
abolished)  and  the  report  of  this  committee  was  brought  for- 
ward on  the  23d  of  June  following,  by  Boissy  d'Anglas.  This 


126  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

was  the  constitution  of  elders  and  youngsters,  a  council  of 
five  hundred,  a  council  of  ancients,  and  an  executive  directory 
of  five.  Mr.  Paine  wrote  a  speech  in  opposition  to  several  of 
the  articles  of  this  constitution,  which  was  translated  and  read 
to  the  convention  by  Citizen  Lanthera,  on  the  seventh  of  July, 
One  of  the  subjects  against  which  Mr.  Paine  contended,  was 
the  unjust  distinction  that  was  attempted  to  be  made  between 
direct  and  indirect  taxes.  Whatever  weight  these  objections 
ought  to  have  carried,  they  were  not  listened  to  by  the  con- 
vention, and  the  constitution  of  Boissy  d'Anglas  was  adopted. 
By  this  decree  the  convention  was  formally  destroyed,  and  as 
Mr.  Paine  was  not  afterward  re-elected,  it  likewise  termi- 
nated his  public  functions  in  France. 

The  reign  of  terror  having  in  some  degree  subsided,  our 
author's  political  pen  returned  to  its  former  employment. 
About  the  time  that  he  brought  out  the  second  part  of  the 
*  Age  of  Reason,'  he  published  several  pamphlets  on  subjects 
less  likely  to  inflame  the  passions  of  the  bigoted  and  the  igno- 
rant, than  investigations  into  the  nature  of  theology.  The 
principal  of  these  are  his  '  Dissertation  on  first  Principles  of 
Government,'  'Agrarian  Justice  opposed  to  Agrarian  Law,' 
and  the  '  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  English  System  of  Finance.' 
The  first  of  these  is  a  continuation  of  the  arguments  advanced 
in  the  '  Rights  of  Man ;'  the  second  is  a  plan  for  creating  in 
every  country  a  national  fund  *  to  pay  to  every  person  when  ar- 
rived at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  the  sum  of  fifteen  pounds 
sterling,  to  enable  him  or  her  to  begin  the  world,  and  also  ten 
pounds  sterling,  per  annum,  during  life,  to  every  person,  now 
living,  of  the  age  of  fifty  years,  and  to  all  others,  when  they 
shall  arrive  at  that  age,  to  enable  them  to  live  in  old  age 
without  wretchedness,  and  to  go  decently  out  of  the  world.' 

This  little  essay  contains  a  good  deal  of  original  thinking, 
and  close  reasoning,  though  in  the  present  state  of  society 
it  is  not  very  probable  that  its  recommendations  will  be  ever 
adopted.  The  pamphlet  on  finance  is  a  proof  of  Mr.  Paine's 
extensive  knowledge  on  this  complicated  subject.  The  events 
of  every  day  serve  to  confirm  the  truth  of  his  opinions  respect- 
ing the  English  system,  and  the  agitations  which  have  prevailed 
throughout  the  country  rendered  the  fulfilment  of  his  predic- 
tions exceedingly  probable. 

In  1796,  he  published  at  Paris  a  l  Letter  to  General  Wash- 
ington.' The  principal  subject  of  this  letter  is  the  treaty 
which  had  recently  been  concluded  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain.  From  the  articles  of  the  treaty,  Mr.  Paine 
contends,  that  those  who  concluded  it  had  compromised  the 
honor  of  America,  and  the  safety  of  her  commerce,  from  a 
disposition  to  crouch  to  the  British  minister.  The  cold 
neglect  of  Mr.  Washington  toward  Mr.  Paine  during  his  im- 
prisonment, forms  likewise  a  prominent  subject  of  the  letter, 


MR.  PAINE'S  ATTACHMENT  TO  AMERICA — WASHINGTON.      127 

and  but  for  this  circumstance  it  is  probable  it  would  never 
have  appeared.  Notwithstanding  the  high  opinion  which 
Mr.  Washington  professed  to  entertain  of  his  services  in  be- 
half of  American  independence,  he  abandoned  him  in  a  few 
years  afterward  to  the  mercy  of  Robespierre,  and  during  his 
imprisonment  of  eleven  months  he  never  made  a  single  effort 
to  reclaim  him.  This  was  not  the  treatment  which  the  author 
of  '  Common  Sense '  deserved  at  the  hands  of  Mr.  Washington, 
either  as  a  private  individual,  or  as  president  of  America. 
Exclusive  of  Mr.  Paine's  being  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
and  of  his  being  consequently  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the 
government,  he  had  rendered  America  services  which  none 
but  the  ungrateful  could  forget ;  he  had  therefore  no  reason  to 
expect  that  her  chief  magistrate  would  abandon  him  in  the 
hour  of  difficulty.  However  deserving  of  our  admiration 
some  parts  of  General  Washington's  conduct  may  be,  his 
behavior  in  this  instance  certainly  reflects  no  honor  upon  his 
character. 

From  a  variety  of  circumstances  it  appears  that  Mr.  Paine 
regarded  the  United  States  as  the  land  of  his  home.  His 
spirit  of  universal  philanthropy,  his  republican  principles,  and 
his  resolution  in  attacking  fraud  and  superstition,  whether  in 
politics  or  religion,  rendered  him  in  a  great  measure  an  in- 
habitant of  the  world,  more  than  of  any  particular  country  ; 
but  notwithstanding  these  peculiarities  of  disposition,  he  had 
domestic  feelings  and  local  attachments  which  neither  time 
nor  distance  could  obliterate.  During  his  residence  in 
Europe,  he  always  declared  his  intention  of  returning  to 
America  :  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  his  to  a  female 
literary  correspondent  at  New  York,  will  show  the  affectionate 
regard  which  he  constantly  cherished  for  the  safety  and  free-  • 
dom  of  the  country  whose  affairs  were  the  means  of  first 
launching  him  into  public  life  : — 

'  You  touch  me  on  a  very  tender  point,  when  you  say,  that 
my  friends  on  your  side  of  the  water  cannot  be  reconciled  to 
the  idea  of  my  abandoning  America  even  for  my  native  Eng- 
land. They  are  right.  I  had  rather  see  my  horse,  Button, 
eating  the  grass  of  Bordentown,  or  Morrissania,  than  see  all 
the  pomp  and  show  of  Europe. 

A  thousand  years  hence,  for  I  must  indulge  a  few  thoughts, 
perhaps  in  less,  America  may  be  what  England  now  is.  The 
innocence  of  her  character,  that  won  the  hearts  of  all  nations 
in  her  favor,  may  sound  like  a  romance,  and  her  inimitable 
virtue  as  if  it  had  never  been.  The  ruins  of  that  liberty, 
which  thousands  bled  to  obtain,  may  just  furnish  materials  for 
a  village  tale,  or  extort  a  sigh  from  rustic  sensibility ;  while 
the  fashionable  of  that  day,  enveloped  in  dissipation,  shall  de- 
ride the  principle  and  deny  the  fact, 

When  we  contemplate  the  fall  of  empires,  and  the  extinction 


\ 


128  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

of  the  nations  of  the  ancient  world,  we  see  but  little  more  to 
excite  our  regret  than  the  mouldering  ruins  of  pompous 
palaces,  magnificent  monuments,  lofty  pyramids,  and  walls 
and  towers  of  the  most  costly  workmanship :  but  when  the 
empire  of  America  shall  fall,  the  subject  for  contemplative 
sorrow  will  be  infinitely  greater  than  crumbling  brass  or  mar- 
ble can  inspire.  It  will  not  then  be  said,  Here  stood  a  temple 
of  vast  antiquity,  here  rose  a  Babel  of  invisible  height,  or  there 
a  palace  of  sumptuous  extravagance ;  but  here,  ah !  painful 
thought !  the  noblest  work  of  human  wisdom,  the  greatest 
scene  of  human  glory,  the  fair  cause  of  freedom,  rose  and  fell! 
Read  this,  then  ask  if  I  forgot  America.' 

The  name  of  the  lady  to  whom  the  above  was  addressed, 
was  Nicholson.  She  was  afterward  married  to  Colonel  Few. 
Whether  or  not  it  was  owing  to  Mr.  Paine's  opinions  on  reli- 
gion I  do  not  know,  but  on  his  return  to  America  he  was  totally 
forsaken  by  her  and  her  husband.  When,  however,  Mr.  Paine's 
dissolution  was  at  hand,  they  sought  his  company,  and  Mrs. 
Few  expressed  a  wish  to  renew  their  former  friendship.  But 
Mr.  Paine,  weak  and  debilitated  as  he  was,  refused  to  shake 
hands  with  her,  and  indignantly  observed, '  You  have  neglect- 
ed me,  and  I  beg  you  will  leave  the  room.' 

In  1797,  a  society  was  formed  of  a  number  of  persons  in 
Paris,  under  the  title  of  'Theophilanthropists.'  Of  this  society 
Paine  was  one  of  the  principal  promoters.  Their  objects 
were  the  propagation  of  morality  and  extinction  of  religious 
prejudices,  and  their  faith  the  belief  of  one  God.  At  one  of 
their  meetings  Mr.  Paine  delivered  a  public  discourse,  in 
which  he  stated  his  reasons  for  rejecting  the  doctrines  of 
atheism,  which  at  that  time  prevailed  in  many  parts  of 
France. 

This  year  he  likewise  published  a  '  Letter  to  the  People  of 
France,  on  the  Events  of  the  eighteenth  Fructidor.'  Of  the 
merits  or  demerits  of  this  pamphlet,  I  am  unable  to  say  any- 
thing as  I  have  not  been  able  to  procure  a  copy.  I  believe  it 
was  never  reprinted. 

About  the  middle  of  the  same  year  he  also  addressed  a  let- 
ter to  Camille  Jordan,  one  of  the  council  of  five  hundred,  re- 
specting his  report  on  the  priests,  public  worship,  and  bells. 
I  have  only  seen  a  mutilated  copy  of  this  production,  but  as 
far  as  I  can  judge  from  that,  it  deserves  to  be  classed  with  the 
best  works  of  the  author.  '  It  is  want  of  feeling,'  says  he,  '  to 
talk  of  priests  and  bells,  while  so  many  infants  are  perishing 
in  the  hospitals,  and  aged  and  infirm  poor  in  the  streets  from 
the  want  of  necessaries.  The  abundance  that  France  pro- 
duces is  sufficient  for  every  want,  if  rightly  applied  ;  but 
priests  and  bells,  like  articles  of  luxury,  ought  to  be  the  least 
articles  of  consideration.' 

The  publication  of  his  deistical  opinions  certainly  lost  our 


A  MEMBER  OF  THE  THEOPHILANTKOPISTS.  129 

author  a  great  number  of  friends,  and,  it  is  possible,  that  this 
might  be  one  of  the  causes  of  General  Washington' s  indiffer- 
ence. The  clear,  open,  and  undisguised  method  in  which  he 
had  contested  established  opinions,  called  forth  the  united 
indignation  of  the  whole  order  of  priesthood  in  England  and 
America,  and  there  was  scarcely  a  house  of  devotion,  in  the 
old  world  or  the  new,  which  did  not  resound  with  their  pious 
execrations.  They  witnessed  with  amazement  and  terror  the 
immense  circulation  of  the  work,  and  they  trembled  at  the 
possibility  that  men  might  assume  sufficient  courage  to  think 
for  themselves.  Thousands  of  persons  who  had  never  seen  / 
the  book,  and  who  knew  nothing  of  its  contents,  except  through  / 
the  perverted  medium  of  their  spiritual  teachers,  rent  the  air  / 
with  exclamations  against  the  blasphemies  of  Thomas  Paine, 
and  to  conclude  these  truly  charitable  proceedings,  the  Eng- 
lish government  called  upon  the  public  to  condemn  the  work 
which  they  had  suppressed  by  a  legal  prosecution. 

Such  are  the  means  adopted  by  the  professors  of  Christianity 
to  suffocate  inquiry,  and  to  dispel  the  doubts  of  skepticism. 

To  the  credit  of  mankind  it  ought  to  be  observed,  that  the 
powers  of  the  hierarchy  are  upon  the  decline.  There  was  a 
time  when  Mr.  Paine  would  have  been  roasted  alive  for  daring  to 
dispute  the  dogmas  of  the  church,  but  the  progress  of  science, 
and  its  handmaid,  civilization,  has  softened  the  ferocity  of 
human  nature,  and  a  somewhat  milder  punishment  is  now  re- 
served for  those  who  may  question  the  divinity  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  For  this,  however,  we  are  not  indebted  either 
to  the  morality  of  the  religion,  or  the  piety  of  its  professors — 
we  owe  it  to  the  progress  which  mankind  have  made  in  freeing 
themselves  from  the  profane  and  barbarous  notions  which  / 
such  a  system  of  belief  is  calculated  to  diffuse  wherever  it  is  v 
tolerated." 

Mr.  Paine,  it  appears,  lived  long  enough  in  France  to  be- 
come unpopular,  at  least  for  a  time.  His  opposition  to  the 
dominant  party  of  Robespiere,  and  to  the  death  of  the  king 
of  France,  were  the  political  offences  which  rendered  him  so. 
While  his  "Age  of  Reason,"  written  in  defence  of  deism,  and 
for  the  express  purpose  of  arresting  the  progress  of  atheism, 
as  he  himself  informs  us,  still  farther  contributed  to  his  un- 
popularity, for  atheism  and  violence,  although  not  necessarily 
connected,  at  one  time  prevailed ;  and  during  the  reign  of  terror, 
and  even  after  the  death  of  Robespiere,  men  who  were  neither 
atheists  nor  intolerant  democrats  assumed  to  be  so,  to  avoid 
suspicion  and  death  by  the  guillotine:  these  therefore  dared 
not  associate  with  Mr.  Paine,  who  steadfastly  adhered  to  his 


130 


LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 


republican  principles  without  cringing  to  an  intolerant  party. 
When  Mr.  Paine  became  unpopular  he  lived  chiefly  in  retire- 
ment j  and,  though  a  member  of  the  national  -assembly,  he  did 
not  make  himself  prominent,  as  he  could  not  sanction  their 
proceedings,  and  opposition  was  useless,  especially,  as  he  did  not 
speak  the  language  fluently,  and  never  in  public.     While  Mr. 
Paine  was  unpopular  in  France,  and  when  he  had  but  few 
friends,  he  resided  chiefly  with  Mr.  Bonneville  and  family.   Mr. 
Bonneville  at  that  time  edited  a  paper,  was  in  good  circum- 
stances,and  when  Mr .Paine's  remittances  from  this  country  were 
not  regular,  he  cheerfully  lent  him  money.     This  kindness,  on 
the  part  of  Bonneville,  shown  at  a  time  when  Mr.  Paine  most 
needed  it,  was  not  lost  on  him,  for  he  was  as  grateful  as  gen- 
erous, moral  qualities  always  in  the  same  ratio  j  and  Mr.  Paine 
had  afterward  an  opportunity  of  returning  this  kindness ;  for, 
on  the  elevation  of  Bonaparte  to  supreme  power,  the  press 
of  Mr.  Bonneville  was  stopped,  and  himself  injured    in   his 
property.     At  this  time  Mr.  Paine  resolved  to  quit  France, 
where  liberty  appeared  hopelessly  absorbed  by  the  splendid 
military  talents  and  achievements  of  Napoleon.     Mr.  Paine 
then  offered  an  asylum  to  Mr.  Bonneville  and  family  in  the 
United  States,  and  this  offer  Mr.  Bonneville  accepted,  and 
soon  after  Mr.  Paine   returned  to   this   country.     In  1802 
Mr.  Bonneville  forwarded  his  wife  and  three  sons,  intending  to 
follow  them  as  soon  as  he  could  settle  his  affairs.     Accident 
or  change  of  purpose  delayed  his  arrival  till  after  Mr.  Paine's 
death,  and  hence  he  became  charged  with  the  maintenance  of 
Mrs.  Bonneville  and  family  (except  the  elder  son,  who  returned 
to  his  father)  till  his  death.     To  this  subject  we  shall  again 
refer  in  the  fourth  part  of  this  life,   especially  as  it  afforded 
Cheetham  the  subject  of  a  libel,  of  which  he  was  convicted, 
after  the  death  of  Mr.  Paine. 

The  social  and  moral  character  of  Mr.  Paine  while  in 
France  appears  to  have  been  the  same  as  in  England,  and  as  in 
this  country  during  the  revolution;  yet  Sherwin,  in  his  life, 
seems  to  admit  that  at  one  period,  when  unpopular,  he  became 
intemperate.  Joel  Barlow,  who  certainly  knew  him  well, 
partially  admits  the  charge  while  he  vindicates  the  general 
character  of  Mr.  Paine,  in  a  letter  to  Cheetham,  which  we  shall 


MR.  PAINE'S  HABITS  IN  FRANCE.  131 

extract.     In  spite  of  these  admissions,  and  others,  with  various 
allusions  from  persons  who  knew  something  of  him,  we  are 
sceptical  of  the  fact,  because  we  were  nearly  betrayed  into  an 
error  on  this  subject,  in  relation  to  his  course  of  life  after  his 
return  to  this  country.     The  statement  that  Mr.  Paine  was 
intemperate  was  so  commonly  asserted,  that  we  never  con- 
templated looking  for  proof  to  the  contrary,  till  this  fact  was 
forced  upon  us  by  the  uniform  testimony  of  his  most  intimate 
acquaintances ;  but  as  this  subject  relates  to  the  fourth  part 
of  his  history,  we  shall  reserve  it  for  its  proper  place.     We 
introduced  it  merely  to  justify  our  scepticism  in  relation  to 
his  habits  in  France,  when  partially  in  seclusion.     This  doubt 
in  us  does  not  arise  from  any  desire  to  screen  Mr.  Paine  from 
any  supposed  blemish ;  for,  if  this  were  the  fact,  we  feel  more 
disposed  to  justify  than  to  screen  him.     We  know  that  he  was 
not  only  temperate  in  after  life,  but  even  abstemious  ;  and  he 
would  therefore  stand  as  a  monument  of  reform  in  old  age, 
on  a  subject  where  reform  is  most  uncommon  at  that  period. 
Mr.  Paine  lived  in  an  age  when  hospitality  and  excess  were 
so  identified  that  the  one  could  not  be  shown  without  the 
other.     In  our  boyish   days   bumpers  were  drank  in   good 
society,  on  public  occasions ;  the  toasts  must  go  round,  and  the 
glasses  drained  in  honor  to  the  toast,  and  occasional  excess, 
even  when  no  public  cause  induced  it,  was  only  a  proof  of 
good  fellowship.     Nor  would  the  host  be  satisfied  that  the 
guests  had  done  him  honor,  if  noisy  mirth,  excited  by  wine, 
did  not  finish  the  repast ;  while  the  guest  did  not  scruple,  on  his 
next-day  visit,  to  complain  of  present  headache,  and  of  double 
sight,  and  a  staggering  gait  on  the  previous  evening,  as  proofs 
of  his  good  entertainment,  and  of  the  liberality  of  his  friend 
and  host.     At  that  time  Pitt  was  afovr-bottle  man,  Fox,  when 
in  exertion,  would  drink  wine  from  a  great  bowl,  and  the  heir- 
apparent  to  the  British  crown   might  even  go  to  greater  ex- 
cesses, surrounded  by  the  brilliants   of  the  nation ;  among 
whom  Sheridan  and  Fox  were  not  the  least   distinguished. 
If  Mr.  Paine,  then,  the  companion  of  some  of  these  men,  had 
done  as  they  did,  he  would  only  have  been  on  a  level  with 
them,  and  to  the  custom  of  the  times  must  the  folly  be  as- 
cribed.    Since  that  age  the  custom  has  changed,  bumpers  are 


1  32  tlfrE  OP  TH6MAS  PAINtf. 

not  insisted  on  in  good  society,  except  in  song.  A  drained 
glass  is  not  a  sine  que  non.  The  guest  indeed  spreads  the 
table  abundantly,  but  excess  is  not  the  fashion ;  each  helps 
himself,  and  the  flow  of  reason  and  wit,  and  innocent  games, 
supply  the  place  of  boisterous  mirth.  The  change  is  rational, 
but  the  present  age  must  not  condemn  the  past,  for  all/o//oio 
custom.  We  feel  then  no  disposition  to  screen  Mr.  Paine, 
but  so  many  falsehoods  have  been  told  on  this  subject,  that 
we  honestly  doubt  various  assertions  unsupported  by  facts. 
Mr.  Clio  Rickman  followed  Mr.  Paine  to  France,  became  again 
his  companion,  and  parted  with  him  on  the  shore  when  he  finally 
left  that  country  for  this.  We  shall  give  that  gentleman's 
account  of  Mr.  Paine' s  habits  in  France,  as  far  as  he  knew. 

"  Mr.  Paine  was  acknowledged  deputy  for  Calais,  the  21st  of 
September,  1792.  In  France,  during  the  early  part  of  the  rev- 
olution, his  time  was  almost  wholly  occupied  as  a  deputy  of 
the  convention  and  as  a  member  of  the  committee  of  consti- 
tution. His  company  was  now  coveted  and  sought  after  uni- 
versally among  every  description  of  people,  and  by  many  who 
for  some  reasons  never  chose  to  avow  it.  With  the  Earl  of 
Lauderdale,  and  Dr.  Moore,  whose  company  he  was  fond  of, 
he  dined  every  Friday,  till  Lord  Gower's  departure  made  it 
necessary  for  them  to  quit  France,  which  was  early  in  1793. 

About  this  period  he  removed  from  White's  hotel  to  one  near 
the  Rue  de  Richelieu,  where  he  was  so  plagued  and  interrupt- 
ed by  numerous  visiters,  and  sometimes  by  adventurers,  that 
in  order  to  have  some  time  to  himself  he  appropriated  two 
mornings  in  a  week  for  his  levee  days<*  To  this  indeed  he  was 
extremely  averse,  from  the  fuss  and  formality  attending  it,  but 
lie  was  nevertheless  obliged  to  adopt  it. 

Annoyed  and  disconcerted  with  a  life  so  contrary  to  his  wishes 
and  habits,  and  so  inimical  to  his  views,  he  retired  to  the  Faux- 
bourg  St.  Dennis,  where  he  occupied  part  of  the  hotel  that 
Madame  de  Pompadour  once  resided  in. 

*  Among  these  adventurers  was  a  person  calling  himself  Major  Lisle  :  Mr.  Paine 
was  at  breakfast  when  he  was  announced ;  he  stated  himself  to  be  lately  arrived 
from  Ireland  ;  he  was  dressed  in  the  Irish  uniform,  and  wore  a  green  cockade  ;  he 
appeared  to  be  a  well-informed  man,  and  was  gentlemanly  in  his  manners,  but  ex- 
tremely voluble.  He  ran  over  the  number  of  sieges  and  battles  he  had  been  at, 
and  ended  with  professing  a  zealous  desire  to  serve  the  republic,  wishing  Mr. 
Paine  to  give  him  a  letter  of  recommendation  to  the  minister  at  war.  Mr.  Paine 
was  extremely  observing,  shrewd,  and  cautious;  he  treated  him  with  hospitality 
and  politeness,  and  inquired  after  some  of  the  leading  characters  in  Ireland,  with 
whom  he  found  the  major  not  at  all  acquainted  ;  he  then  recommended  him  to 
take  the  credentials  of  his  services  to  the  military  committee,  but  declined  every 
importunity  to  interfere  himself.  The  adventurer  turned  out  afterward  to  be  the 
notorious  Major  Semple. 


MR.  PAINE'S  HABITS  IN  FRANCE.  133 

Here  was  a  good  garden  well  laid  out,  and  here  too  our  mu- 
tual friend  Mr.  Choppin  occupied  apartments  ;  at  this  residence, 
which  for  a  town  one  was  very  quiet,  he  lived  a  life  of  retire- 
ment and  philosophical  ease,  while  it  was  believed  he  was  gone 
into  the  country  for  his  health,  which  by  this  time  indeed  was 
much  impaired  by  intense  application  to  business,  and  by  the 
anxious  solicitude  he  felt  for  the  welfare  of  public  affairs. 

Here  with  a  chosen  few  he  unbent  himself ;  among  whom 
were  Brissot,  the  Marquis  de  Chatelet  le  Roi  of  the  gallerie  de 
honore,  and  an  old  friend  of  Dr.  Franklin,  Bangal,  and  some- 
times General  Miranda.  His  English  associates  were  Christie 
and  family,  Mrs.  Wolstonecraft,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stone,  &c. 
Among  his  American  friends  were  Capt.  Imlay,  Joel  Barlow, 
&c.,  &c.  To  these  parties  the  French  inmates  were  generally 
invited. 

It  was  about  this  time  a  gentleman  at  Paris  thus  writes  of 
him  to  his  friend  :  '  An  English  lady  of  our  acquaintance,  not 
less  remarkable  for  her  talents  than  for  her  elegance  of  man- 
ners, entreated  me  to  contrive  that  she  might  have  an  interview 
with  Mr.  Paine.  In  consequence  of  this  I  invited  him  to  din- 
ner on  a  day  when  we  were  to  be  favored  with  her  company. 
For  above  four  hours  he  kept  every  one  in  astonishment  and 
admiration  of  his  memory,  his  keen  observation  of  men  and 
manners,  his  numberless  anecdotes  of  the  American  Indians, 
of  the  American  war,  of  Franklin,  Washington,  and  even  of 
his  majesty,  of  whom  he  told  several  curious  facts  of  humor 
and  benevolence.  His  remarks  on  genius  and  taste  can  never 
be  forgotten  by  those  present.1 " 

The  above  extract  is  a  part  of  Mr.  Yorke's  letter,  published 
we  believe  in  this  country,  but  as  that  letter  contains  some 
falsehoods  we  have  no  confidence  in  it ;  for  Mr.  Yorke  says 
Paine  could  repeat  by  heart  anything  he  had  written :  and  Sher- 
win  repeats  the  statement.  This  is  a  mistake,  as  we  are  in- 
formed by  Mr.  John  Fellows  and  others,  his  intimates.  Mr. 
Paine  would  necessarily  express  himself  nearly  in  the  same 
style,  on  the  same  subject,  because  it  was  the  most  clear,  the 
fewest  words,  and  combined  the  greatest  strength.  Men  who 
say  the  best  thing  first,  can  but  repeat  them  on  a  future  occa- 
sion. Mr.  Clio  Rickman  goes  on  to  remark : — 

"  He  usually  rose  about  seven,  breakfasted  with  his  friend 
Choppin,  Johnson,  and  two  or  three  other  Englishmen,  and  a 
Monsieur  La  Borde,  who  had  been  an  officer  in  the  ci-devant 
garde  du  corps,  an  intolerable  aristocrat,  but  whose  skill  in 
mechanics  and  geometry  brought  on  a  friendship  between  him 
and  Paine ;  for  the  undaunted  and  distinguished  ability  and 


134  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

firmness  with  which  he  ever  defended  his  own  opinions  when 
controverted,  do  not  reflect  higher  honor  upon  him  than  that 
unbounded  liberality  toward  the  opinions  of  others  which  con- 
stituted such  a  prominent  feature  in  his  character,  and  which 
never  suffered  mere  difference  of  sentiment,  whether  political 
or  religious,  to  interrupt  the  harmonious  intercourse  of 
friendship,  or  impede  the  interchanges  of  knowledge  and 
information. 

After  breakfast  he  usually  strayed  an  hour  or  two  in  the 
garden,  where  he  one  morning  pointed  out  the  kind  of  spider 
whose  web  furnished  him  with  the  first  idea  of  constructing 
his  iron  bridge  ;  a  fine  model  of  which,  in  mahogany,  is  pre- 
served at  Paris. 

The  little  happy  circle  who  lived  with  him  here  will  ever 
remember  these  days  with  delight :  with  these  select  friends 
he  would  talk  of  his  boyish  days,  play  at  chess,  whist,  piquet, 
or  cribbage,  and  enliven  the  moments  by  many  interesting 
anecdotes :  with  these  he  would  sport  on  the  broad  and  fine 
gravel  walk  at  the  upper  end  of  the  garden,  and  then  retire  to 
his  boudoir,  where  he  was  up  to  his  knees  in  letters  and  papers 
of  various  descriptions.  Here  he  remained  till  dinner-time  ; 
and  unless  he  visited  Brissot's  family,  or  some  particular  friend 
in  the  evening,  which  was  his  frequent  custom,  he  joined 
again  the  society  of  his  favorites  and  fellow-boarders,  with 
whom  his  conversation  was  often  witty  and  cheerful,  always 
acute  and  improving,  but  never  frivolous. 

Incorrupt,  straightforward,  and  sincere,  he  pursued  his  politi- 
cal course  in  France,  as  everywhere  else,  let  the  government  or 
clamor  or  faction  of  the  day  be  what  it  might,  with  firmness, 
with  clearness,  and  without  a  '  shadow  of  turning.' 

In  all  Mr.  Paine' s  inquiries  and  conversations  he  evinced 
the  strongest  attachment  to  the  investigation  of  truth,  and  was 
always  for  going  to  the  fountain-head  for  information.  He 
often  lamented  we  had  no  good  history  of  America,  and  that 
the  letters  written  by  Columbus,  the  early  navigators,  and 
others,  to  the  Spanish  court,  were  inaccessible,  and  that  many 
valuable  documents,  collected  by  Philip  II,  and  deposited  with 
the  national  archives  at  Simania,  had  not  yet  been  promulga- 
ted. He  used  to  speak  highly  of  the  sentimental  parts  of  Ray- 
nal's  History." 

As  farther  illustration  of  the  character  of  Mr.  Paine  while 
in  France  we  shall  now  introduce  the  letter  of  Joel  Barlow 
to  Cheetham,  when  Cheetham  was  getting  up  the  life  of 
Paine,  just  after  the  death  of  the  latter.  He  wrote  for  in- 
information  to  various  persons,  suggesting  what  answers  they 
should  give  by  leading  questions.  These  answers,  if  they 
suited  his  purpose,  he  published,  if  not,  he  suppressed  them, 


135 

or  he  took  the  liberty  of  publishing  detached  parts  of  what  he 
had  been  told,  or  related  direct  falsehoods,  as  in  the  case  ot 
Mr.  Jarvis,  who  has  explicitly  denied  to  us  the  words  which 
Cheetham  puts  into  his  mouth  in  relation  to  Mr.  Paine. 
Cheetham,  among  others,  wrote  to  Mr.  Barlow,  and  to  him 
put  such  sort  of  questions  as  we  have  noticed.  Mr.  Barlow, 
in  reply,  states  as  follows : — 

TO  JAMES  CHEETHAM. 

"  SIR  :  I  have  received  your  letter  calling  for  information  re- 
lative to  the  life  of  Thomas  Paine.  It  appears  to  me  that  this 
is  not  the  moment  to  publish  the  life  of  that  man  in  this 
country.  His  own  writings  are  his  best  life,  and  these  are 
not  read  at  present. 

The  greatest  part  of  the  readers  in  the  United  States  will 
not  be  persuaded  as  long  as  their  present  feelings  last,  to  con- 
sider him  in  any  other  light  than  as  a  drunkard  and  a  deist. 
The  writer  of  his  life  who  should  dwell  on  these  topics,  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  great  and  estimable  traits  of  his  real  char-  ' 
acter,  might,  indeed,  please  the  rabble  of  the  age  who  do  not 
know  him ;  the  book  might  sell ;  but  it  would  only  tend  to 
render  the  truth  more  obscure,  for  the  future  biographer  than 
it  was  before. 

But  if  the  present  writer  should  give  us  Thomas  Paine 
complete,  in  all  his  character  as  one  of  the  most  benevolent  and 
disinterested  of  mankind,  endowed  with  the  clearest  percep- 
tion, an  uncommon  share  of  original  genius,  and  the  greatest 
breadth  of  thought ;  if  this  piece  of  biography  should  analyze 
his  literary  labors,  and  rank  him  as  he  ought  to  be  ranked 
among  the  brightest  and  most  undeviating  luminaries  of  the 
age  in  which  he  has  lived — yet  with  a  mind  assailable  by  flat- 
tery, and  receiving  through  that  weak  side  a  tincture  of  vanity 
which  he  was  too  proud  to  conceal ;  with  a  mind,  though 
strong  enough  to  bear  him  up,  and  to  rise  elastic  under  the 
heaviest  load  of  oppression,  yet  unable  to  endure  the  contempt 
of  his  former  friends  and  fellow-laborers,  the  rulers  of  the 
country  that  had  received  his  first  and  greatest  services — 
a  mind  incapable  of  Idoking  down  with  serene  compassion,  as 
it  ought,  on  the  rude  scoffs  of  their  imitators,  a  new  genera- 
tion that  knows  him  not ;  a  mind  that  shrinks  from  their 
society,  and  unhappily  seeks  refuge  in  low  company,  or  looks 
for  consolation  in  the  sordid,  solitary  bottle,  till  it  sinks  at  last 
so  far  below  its  native  elevation  as  to  lose  all  respect  for  itself, 
and  to  forfeit  that  of  his  best  friends,  disposing  these  friends 
almost  to  join  with  his  enemies,  and  wish,  though  from  dif- 
ferent motives,  that  he  would  haste  to  hide  himself  in  the 


136  LIFE    OF   THOMAS   PAINE. 

grave — if  you  are  disposed  and  prepared  to  write  his  life,  thus 
entire,  to  fill  up  the  picture  to  which  these  hasty  strokes  of 
outline  give  but  a  rude  sketch  with  great  vacuities,  your  book 
may  be  a  useful  one  for  another  age,  but  it  will  not  be  relished, 
nor  scarcely  tolerated  in  this. 

The  biographer  of  Thomas  Paine  should  not  forget  his  mathe- 
matical acquirements,  and  his  mechanical  genius.  His  inven- 
tion of  the  iron  bridge^  which  led  him  to  Europe  in  the  year 
1787,  has  procured  him  a  great  reputation  in  that  branch  of 
science,  in  France  and  England,  in  both  which  countries  his 
bridge  has  been  adopted  in  many  instances,  and  is  now  much  in 
use. 

You  ask  whether  he  took  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  France. 
Doubtless,  the  qualification  to  be  a  member  of  the  convention 
required  an  oath  of  fidelity  to  that  country,  but  involved  in  it 
no  abjuration  of  his  fidelity  to  this.  He  was  made  a  French 
citizen  by  the  same  decree  with  Washington,  Hamilton,  Priest- 
ley, and  Sir  James  Mackintosh. 

What  Mr.  M has  told  you  relative  to  the  circum- 
stances of  his  arrestation  by  order  of  Robespierre,  is  erro- 
neous, at  least  in  one  point.  Paine  did  not  lodge  at  the  house 
where  he  was  arrested,  but  had  been  dining  there  with  some 

Americans,  of  whom  Mr.  M may  have  been  one.  I 

never  heard  before,  that  Paine  was  intoxicated  that  night.  In- 
deed the  officers  brought  him  directly  to  my  house,  which  was 
two  miles  from  his  lodgings,  and  about  as  much  from  the 
place  where  he  had  been  dining.  He  was  not  intoxicated 
when  they  came  to  me.  Their  object  was  to  get  me  to  go 
and  assist  them  to  examine  Paine's  papers.  It  employed  us 
the  rest  of  that  night,  and  the  whole  of  the  next  day  at  Paine's 
lodgings ;  and  he  was  not  committed  to  prison  till  the  next 
evening. 

You  ask  what  company  he  kept — he  always  frequented  the 
best,  both  in  England  and  France,  till  he  became  the  object 
of  calumny  in  certain  American  papers  (echoes  of  the  English 
court  papers),  for  his  adherence  to  what  he  thought  the  cause 
of  liberty  in  France,  till  he  conceived  himself  neglected  and 
despised  by  his  former  friends  in  the  United  States.  From 
that  moment  he  gave  himself  very  much  to  drink,  and,  conse- 
quently, to  companions  less  worthy  of  his  better  days. 

It  is  said  he  was  always  a  peevish  inmate — this  is  possible. 
So  was  Lawrence  Sterne,  so  was  Torquato  Tasso,  so  was  J.  J. 
Rousseau  ;  but  Thomas  Paine,  as  a  visiting  acquaintance  and 
as  a  literary  friend,  the  only  points  of  view  in  which  I  knew 
him,  was  one  of  the  most  instructive  men  I  ever  have  known. 
He  had  a  surprising  memory  and  brilliant  fancy  ;  his  mind  was 
a  storehouse  of  facts  and  useful  observations ;  he  was  full  of 
lively  anecdote,  and  ingenious  original,  pertinent  remark  upon 
almost  every  subject. 


MR.  PAINE'S  NAME  SUPPRESSED  BY  HISTORIANS.  137 

He  was  always  charitable  to  the  poor  beyond  his  means,  a 
sure  protector  and  friend  to  all  Americans  in  distress  that 
he  found  in  foreign  countries.  And  he  had  frequent  occasions  / 

to  exert  his  influence  in  protecting  them  during  the  revolu- 
tion in  France.  His  writings  will  answer  for  his  patriotism, 
and  his  entire  devotion  to  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  best 
interest  and  happiness  of  mankind.* 

This,  sir,  is  all  I  have  to  remark  on  the  subject  you  mention. 
Now  I  have  only  one  request  to  make,  and  that  would  doubt- 
less seem  impertinent,  were  you  not  the  editor  of  a  news* 
paper  ;  it  is,  that  you  will  not  publish  my  letter,  nor  permit  a 
copy  of  it  to  be  taken. 

I  am,  sir,  &c., 

JOEL  BARLOW. 

KALORAMA,  August  11,  1809." 

Mr.  Barlow  was  not  always  so  candid.  He  has  published  a 
poem  on  the  revolution,  in  which  he  does  not  mention  Mr» 
Paine,  whose  "  Common  Sense  "  produced  the  declaration  of 
independence,  and  who,  throughout  the  contest,  did  more 
toward  producing  unanimity  and  funds  (the  two  essentials  in 
war)  than  any  other  man.  We  have  now  in  our  house  a 
compact  history  of  the  revolution,  by  S.  F.  Wilson,  published 
in  Baltimore,  in  which  the  same  injustice  is  done  to  Mr.  Paine, 
for  he  scarcely  occupies  one  line  in  the  history,  although 
"  political  writings"  without  giving  a  "name,  are  referred  to,  as 
being  very  efficacious.  Paul  Allen  in  a  larger  work  does  him 
the  same  injustice.  In  a  biography  of  distinguished  American 
characters,  by  Colonel  Knapp,  published  by  Conner,  a  short 
notice  was  inserted  of  Mr.  Paine,  being  a  republication  of  an 
English  biography.  This  Mr.  Conner  was  obliged  to  alter, 
after  stereotyping,  at  the  instigation  of  Collins  and  Hanna, 
and  other  booksellers,  not  because  the  facts  and  sentiments 
were  incorrect,  but  because  the  praise  of  Mr.  Paine  would 
spoil  the  sale  of  the  book.  These  facts  we  learn  from  Mr. 
John  Fellows  and  Mr.  Conner.  In  the  case  of  Joel  Barlow, 
there  was  no  personal  objection,  but  he  knew  that  prejudices 
existed  against  Mr.  Paine,  and  he  succumbed  to  public  feeling ; 
and  such  we  believe  the  case  with  other  writers. 

*  Mr.  Barlow  might  have  added,  in  regard  to  Mr.  Paine's  religion,  that  as  it 
was  the  religion  of  most  of  the  men  of  science  of  the  present  age,  and  probably 
of  three  fourths  of  those  of  the  last,  there  could  be  no  just  reason  for  making  it 
an  exception  in  his  character. 


138  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

While  Mr.  Paine  was  in  France,  and  partly  detached  from 
politics,  in  consequence  of  imprisonment  and  the  violence  of 
party,  he  was  not  idle.  Mr.  Yorke  remarks,  in  his  letter  pub- 
lished in  Sherwin's  Life  : — 

"  In  showing  me  one  day  the  beautiful  models  of  two  bridges 
he  had  devised,  he  observed  that  Dr.  Franklin  once  told  him, 
that  '  books  are  written  to  please,  houses  built  for  great  men, 
churches  for  priests,  but  no  bridge  for  the  people.' 

These  models  exhibit  an  extraordinary  degree,  not  only  of 
skill,  but  of  taste,  in  mechanics ;  and  are  wrought  with  extreme 
delicacy,  entirely  by  his  own  hands.  The  largest  is  nearly  four 
feet  in  length ;  the  iron  works,  the  chains,  and  every  other 
article  belonging  to  it,  were  forged  and  manufactured  by  him- 
self. It  is  intended  as  the  model  of  a  bridge,  which  is  to  be 
constructed  across  the  Delaware,  extending  480  feet  with  only 
one  arch.  The  other  is  to  be  erected  over  a  lesser  river, 
whose  name  I  forget,  and  is  likewise  a  single  arch,  and  of  his 
own  workmanship,  excepting  the  chains,  which  instead  of  iron, 
are  cut  out  of  pasteboard,  by  the  fair  hand  of  his  correspond- 
ent, the  '  Little  Corner  of  the  World,'  whose  indefatigable  per- 
severance is  extraordinary.  He  was  offered  three  thousand 
pounds  for  these  models,  and  refused  it.  The  iron  bars,  which 
I  before  mentioned  that  I  noticed  in  a  corner  of  his  room,  were 
also  forged  by  himself,  as  the  model  of  a  crane,  of  a  new  de- 
scription. He  put  them  together,  and  exhibited  the  power  of 
the  lever,  to  a  most  surprising  degree." 

"  Mr.  Yorke  in  the  above  extract  states  the  correspondence 
between  Lady  Smith  and  Mr.  Paine  to  have  been  extremely 
beautiful  and  interesting ;  as  a  proof  of  this,  the  following 
specimen  is  subjoined  : — 

1  FROM  "  THE  CASTLE  IN  AIR,"  TO  THE  '   LITTLE  CORNER  OF    THE 
WORLD." 

IN  the  region  of  clouds  where  the  -whirlwinds  arise, 

My  castle  of  fancy  was  built ; 
The  turrets  reflected  the  blue  of  the  skies, 

And  the  windows  with  sun-beams  were  gilt. 

The  rainbow  sometimes,  in  its  beautiful  state, 

Enamelled  the  mansion  around, 
And  the  figures  that  fancy  in  clouds  can  create, 

Supplied  me  with  gardens  and  ground. 

.    I  had  grottoes  and  fountains  and  orange  tree  groves, 

I  had  all  that  enchantment  has  told  ; 
I  had  sweet  shady  walks  for  the  gods  and  their  loves, 
I  had  mountains  of  coral  and  gold. 

But  a  storm  that  I  felt  not,  had  risen  and  rolled, 

While  wrapt  in  a  slumber  I  lay : 
And  when  I  looked  out  in  the  morning,  behold  .' 

My  castle  was  carried  away. 


MR.  PAINE'S  POETIIY — SOCIALITY.  139 

It  passed  over  rivers,  and  valleys,  and  groves — 

The  world,  it  was  all  in  my  view — 
I  thought  of  my  friends,  of  their  fates,  of  their  loves, 
And  often,  full  often,  of  you. 

At  length  it  came  over  a  beautiful  scene, 

That  nature  in  silence  had  made  : 
The  place  was  but  small — but 't  was  sweetly  serene, 

And  chequered  with  sunshine  and  shade. 

I  gazed  and  I  envied  with  painful  goodwill, 

And  grew  tired  of  my  seat  in  the  air  : 
When  all  of  a  sudden  my  castle  stood  still, 

As  if  some  attraction  was  there. 

Like  a  lark  from  the  sky  it  came  fluttering  down, 

And  placed  me  exactly  in  view — 
When  who  should  I  meet,  in  this  charming  retreat, 

This  corner  of  calmness — but  you. 

Delighted  to  find  you  in  honor  and  ease, 

I  felt  no  more  sorrow  nor  pain ; 
And  the  wind  coming  fair,  1  ascended  the  breeze, 

And  went  back  with  my  castle  again.' 

The  above  was  written  during  his  residence  in  Paris.  Mr. 
Paine  had  very  early  in  life  corresponded  with  the  lady  to 
whom  it  was  addressed,  his  letters,  like  the  foregoing,  being 
dated  from  the  '  Castle  in  the  Air,'  and  hers  from  the  '  Little 
Corner  of  the  World.'  For  reasons  which  he  knew  not,  their 
intercourse  was  suddenly  suspended,  and  for  some  time  he 
believed  his  friend  in  obscurity  and  distress.  Many  years 
afterward,  he  met  her  unexpectedly  at  Paris,  in  the  most  afflu- 
ent circumstances,  and  married  to  Sir  Robert  Smith. 

In  Mr.  Yorke's  Letters  there  is  another  piece,  on  forgetful- 
ness.  This  is  replete  with  the  most  beautiful  imagery,  but  Mr. 
Yorke,  from  some  motive  which  I  cannot  discover,  has  can- 
celled so  great  a  part  of  it,  that  much  of  the  interest  is  lost 
which  it  would  otherwise  possess. 

As  the  letter  of  Mr.  Jefferson  which  Mr.  Yorke  alludes  to, 
shows  the  high  opinion  which  that  gentleman  entertained  of 
our  author's  services,  and  his  wish  to  accommodate  him  by 
every  possible  kindness,  I  here  subjoin  a  copy  of  it : — 

*  You  express  a  wish  in  your  letter  to  return  to  America  by 
a  national  ship  ;  Mr.  Dawson,  who  brings  over  the  treaty,  and 
who  will  present  you  with  this  letter,  is  charged  with  orders 
to  the  captain  of  the  Maryland  to  receive  and  accommodate  you 
back,  if  you  can  be  ready  to  depart  at  such  a  short  warning. 
You  will  in  general  find  us  returned  to  sentiments  worthy  of  y 
former  times  ;  in  these  it  will  be  your  glory  to  have  steadily 
labored,  and  with  as  much  effect  as  any  man  living.  That  you 
may  live  long  to  continue  your  useful  labors,  and  reap  the  re- 
ward in  the  thankfulness  of  nations,  is  my  sincere  prayer. 
Accept  the  assurances  of  my  high  esteem,  and  affectionate  at- 
tachment. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON.' 


140 


LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 


Soon  after  Mr.  Paine's  release  from  the  Luxembourg,  it  ap- 
pears he  made  an  effort  to  return  to  America,  but  he  found 
the  obstacles  more  numerous  than.he  expected.  The  miscon- 
duct of  Mr.  Monroe's  predecessor  had  rendered  his  reception 
in  France  a  very  unpleasant  one,  and  as  soon  as  he  had  effect 
ed  a  good  understanding  with  the  government  of  that  country, 
he  wished  to  transmit  some  despatches  to  America,  by  a  per- 
son with  whom  he  could  likewise  confide  a  verbal  communica- 
tion, and  he  fixed  upon  Mr.  Paine.  For  this  purpose^  he  ap- 
plied to  the  committee  of  public  safety  for  a  passport,  but  as 
Mr.  Paine  had  been  voted  again  into  the  convention,  it  was 
only  the  convention  who  could  grant  the  passport,  and  as  an 
application  to  them  would  have  made  his  departure  publicly 
known,  he  was  obliged  to  sustain  the  disappointment,  and  Mr. 
Monroe  to  lose  the  opportunity. 

When  Mr.  Monroe  left  France,  our  author  was  to  have  accom- 
panied him,  but  owing  to  some  unforeseen  circumstances  he 
was  unable  to  complete  his  arrangements  for  that  purpose.  It 
was  fortunate  he  could  not,  for  the  vessel  in  which  the  minister 
returned  was  boarded  by  a  British  frigate  in  her  passage,  and 
every  part  of  her  searched,  down  even  to  the  hold,  for  Thomas 
Paine.  He  then  went  to  Havre,  thinking  that  he  should  be  able 
to  embark  there  without  its  being  known,  but  he  found  that 
several  British  frigates  were  cruising  in  sight  of  the  port,  and 
he  thereupon  returned  to  Paris.  Seeing  himself  cut  off  from 
every  opportunity  that  was  within  his  power  to  command,  he 
wrote  to  Mr.  Jefferson  requesting  that  if  the  fate  of  the  election 
should  put  him  in  the  chair  of  the  presidency,  and  he  should 
have  occasion  to  send  a  frigate  to  France,  he  would  give  him 
the  opportunity  of  returning  by  it.  This  application  produced 
an  answer  from  Mr.  Jefferson  of  which  the  letter  before  cited 
is  a  copy.  He  did  not,  however,  go  by  this  vessel,  the  notice 
being  too  short.  He  next  agreed  to  embark  with  Commodore 
Barney,  in  a  vessel  he  had  engaged,  but  in  this,  as  in  some  of 
the  former  cases,  the  protecting  hand  of  Providence  was  very 
visible,  he  was  accidently  detained  beyond  the  time,  and  the 
vessel  sunk  at  sea.  Such  a  multitude  of  difficulties  and  nar- 
row escapes  were  perhaps  never  concentrated  together  in  the 
execution  of  so  simple  a  project.  He  finally  embarked  from 
Havre  on  the  1st  of  September,  and  arrived  at  Baltimore  on 
the  30th  of  October,  1802." 


141 


PART    IV. 

FROM  THE  ARRIVAL  OF  MR.  PAINE  IN  BALTIMORE,  OCTOBER  30,  I802j 
TO  HIS  DEATH  IN  1809- 


THE  most  interesting  period  of  Mr.  Paine's  life  has  neces- 
sarily already  been  given.  He  was  now  an  old  man,  between 
sixty  and  seventy,  yet  vigorous,  with  his  mental  faculties  unim- 
paired. His  strong  desire  to  end  his  days  in  the  United  States 
was  beautifully  and  pathetically  expressed  to  a  lady,  in  a 
letter  from  France,  a  few  days  before  his  arrival.  This  we 
have  already  given,  page  127.  The  reception  of  Mr.  Paine 
in  the  United  States  was  such  as  might  have  been  expected 
from  his  fame  and  independent  course.  In  a  letter  to  his 
friend  Clio  Rickman  he  thus  expresses  himself: — 

"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND  i  Mr.  Monroe,  who  is  appointed  minister 
extraordinary  to  France,  takes  charge  of  this,  to  be  delivered 
to  Mr.  Este,  banker  in  Paris,  to  be  forwarded  to  you. 

I  arrived  at  Baltimore  30th  October,  and  you  can  have  no 
idea  of  the  agitation  which  my  arrival  occasioned.  From 
New  Hampshire  to  Georgia  (an  extent  of  1500  miles),  every 
newspaper  was  filled  with  applause  or  abuse. 

My  property  in  this  country  has  b^een  taken  care  of  by  my 
friends,  and  is  now  worth  six  thousand  pounds  sterling  ;  which 
put  in  the  funds  will  bring  me  £400  sterling  a  year. 

Remember  me  in  friendship  and  affection  to  your  wife  and 
family,  and  in  the  circle  of  our  friends. 

Yours  in  friendship, 

THOMAS  PAINE." 

What  course  he  meant  to  pursue  in  America  his  own  words 
will  best  tell,  and  best  characterize  his  sentiments  and  prin- 
ciples ;  they  are  these  : — 

"  As  this  letter  is  intended  to  announce  my  arrival  to  my 
friends,  and  my  enemies  if  I  have  any,  for  I  ought  to  have 
none  in  America,  and  as  introductory  to  others  that  will  occa- 


142 


LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 


sionally  follow,  I  shall  close  it  by  detailing  the  line  of  conduct 
I  shall  pursue. 

I  have  no  occasion  to  ask,  nor  do  I  intend  to  accept,  any 
place  or  office  in  the  government. 

There  is  none  it  could  give  me  that  would  in  any  way  be 
equal  to  the  profits  I  could  make  as  an  author  (for  I  have  an 
established  fame  in  the  literary  world)  could  I  reconcile  it  to 
my  principles  to  make  money  by  my  politics  or  religion ;  I 
must  be  in  everything  as  I  have  ever  been,  a  disinterested 
volunteer  :  my  proper  sphere  of  action  is  on  the  common  floor 
of  citizenship,  and  to  honest  men  I  give  my  hand  and  my  heart 
freely. 

I  have  some  manuscript  works  to  publish,  of  which  I  shall 
give  proper  notice,  and  some  mechanical  affairs  to  bring  for- 
ward, that  will  employ  all  my  leisure  time. 

I  shall  continue  these  letters  as  I  see  occasion,  and  as  to  the 
low  party  prints  that  choose  to  abuse  me,  they  are  welcome: 
I  shall  not  descend  to  answer  them.  I  have  been  too  much 
used  to  such  common  stuff  to  take  any  notice  of  it. 

THOMAS  PAINE. 

CITY  OF  WASHINGTON." 

Mr.  Paine  did  not  remain  long  at  Baltimore,  but  while  there 
the  following  characteristic  circumstance  occurred : — 

"  Passing  through  Baltimore,  he  was  accosted  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Hargrove,  minister  of  a  new  sect,  called  the  New  Jeru- 
salemites.  '  You  are  Mr.  Paine,'  said  Mr.  Hargrove.  '  Yes.' 
4  My  name  is  Hargrove,  sir ;  I  am  minister  of  the  New  Jeru- 
salem church  here.  We,  sir,  explain  the  Scripture  in  its  true 
meaning.  The  key  has  been  lost  above  four  thousand  years, 
and  we  have  found  it.'  '  Then,'  said  Paine,  drily,  '  it  must 
have  been  very  rusty.' 

Mr.  Paine  visited  Washington,  and  was  kindly  received  by 
Jefferson,  then  president ;  indeed  this  gentleman  kept  up 
a  constant  correspondence  with  him  to  the  day  of  his  death. 
He  had  invited  him  to  return  to  the  United  States,  had  sent 
out  a  ship  for  him,  and  on  being  asked  if  he  had  done  so,  he 
replied,  "  I  have,  and  when  he  arrives,  if  there  be  an  office  in 
my  gift,  suitable  for  him  to  fill,  I  will  give  it  to  him ;  I  will 
never  abandon  old  friends  to  make  room  for  new  ones."  Mr. 
Paine,  it  appears,  had  resolved  not  to  take  office,  his  wants 
were  moderate  and  his  means  sufficient.  Mr.  Paine  visited 
the  heads  of  the  departments,  and  the  various  leading  political 
characters,  by  whom  he  was  received  with  pleasure,  and  re- 


MR.  PAINE  IN  NEW  YORK.  143 

membered  with  gratitude,  not,  however,  to  be  depended  on 
when  such  remembrances  came  in  contact  with  their 
popularity. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Paine  came  to  New  York,  and  put  up  at  the 
City  hotel,  then  Lovett's  hotel,  where  Grant  Thorburn,  well 
known  in  New  York,  says,  in  a  pamphlet  before  noticed,  that 
he  visited  him,  introduced  himself^  shook  hands  with  him,  de- 
clared that  his  only  object  in  thus  visiting  Mr.  Paine  was  to  see 
the  man  who  had  written  "  Common  Sense,"  and  was  so  much 
talked  about ;  and  having  gratified  his  curiosity,  as  he  says, 
he  abruptly  retired,  to  the  no  small  amusement  of  the  party. 
Thorburn  had  formerly  adopted  Mr.  Paine's  principles,  but  at 
this  time  he  was  a  professor  of  religion,  and  held  some  office 
in  a  baptist  church,  the  members  of  which,  hearing  that  Mr. 
Grant  Thorburn  had  shaken  hands  with  Thomas  Paine,  thought 
proper  to  suspend  him  from  the  church  on  that  account ;  for 
this  reason  we  have  introduced  the  anecdote,  as  it  explains 
the  situation  of  all  the  friends  of  Mr.  Paine,  who  were  con- 
nected with  churches,  either  from  principle  or  policy. 

While  Mr.  Paine  was  at  Lovett's  hotel,  in  spite  of  the  in- 
fluence of  the  church,  he  was  honored  with  a  public  dinner  by 
a  respectable  and  numerous  party,  and  his  after-enemy, 
Cheetham,  then  editor  of  a  daily  paper,  the  organ  of  the  demo- 
cratic party,  was  particularly  active  in  making  the  arrange- 
ments. Notwithstanding  this  public  declaration  in  favor  of 
Mr.  Paine,  he  was  not  popular ;  the  church  feared  him  and 
had  set  their  curse  upon  him  j  children  had  been  taught  to 
lisp  his  name  in  connexion  with  blasphemy ;  and  those  polit- 
ical leaders  who  sought  after  place,  without  regarding  the 
means  to  be  employed,  and  who  needed  the  suffrages  of  the 
pious,  and  above  all  feared  their  united  opposition,  shunned 
the  company  of  Mr.  Paine  as  something  contaminating.  The 
people  were  deceived  by  the  church,  and  those  who  knew 
better  wanted  the  honesty  to  stem  the  torrent.  Jefferson, 
Clinton,  the  mayor  of  New  York,  and  a  number  of  others, 
high  in  politics,  literature,  and  situation  in  life,  were  honorable 
exceptions ;  while  the  independence  of  Mr.  Paine  would  not 
allow  him  to  conceal  his  principles  or  conform  in  practices 
which  involved  even  a  portion  of  hypocrisy.  On  a  morning 


144  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

visit  to  Dr.  Mitchill,  in  company  with  Mr.  John  Fellows,  the 
latter  reminded  Mr.  Paine,  while  in  a  gig,  before  they  reached 
the  doctor,  that  Mr.  Paine  had  a  morning  gown  on ;  Mr.  Paine 
replied,  "  Let  those  dress  who  need  it."  Cheetham  has  said 
much  ahout  the  slovenly  hahits  and  appearance  of  Mr.  Paine. 
Mr.  Fellows,  who  knew  him  well  from  his  first  return  to  this 
country  till  his  death,  denies  the  whole  of  it.  He  remarks 
that  he  was  careless  of  his  appearance  (as  the  ahove  little 
anecdote  shows),  but  always  cleanly  and  decent  5  and,  as  we 
before  remarked,  that  he  never  saw  him  disguised  in  liquor 
but  once,  when  he  had  been  to  a  dinner-party,  and  that  he 
was  then  only  excited.  This  opinion  we  find  uniformly  sup- 
ported by  every  credible  person  who  knew  him. 

The  partial  desertion  of  Mr.  Paine,  as  a  matter  of  policy,  by 
many  of  the  prominent  leading  political  characters,  opened  a 
way  to  others  of  less  influence  in  society,  but  more  fearless 
of  public  opinion  ;  and  some  of  these,  with  an  indiscreet  zeal, 
thrust  themselves  upon  Mr.  Paine,  and  claimed  a  sort  of 
championship  in  his  support.  At  this  time  Mr.  Carver  intro- 
duced himself  to  Mr.  Paine,  as  a  fellow-townsman,  who,  when 
a  boy,  remembered  the  fame  of  the  latter,  at  Lewes,  in  Sussex. 
Mr.  Paine,  too,  probably,  remembered  him,  for  Carver  had 
sometimes  saddled  his  horse,  and  could  remind  him  of  these 
services  and  former  times.  Mr.  Carver  was  at  this  period  a 
respectable  tradesman,  a  blacksmith  and  veterinary  surgeon. 
He  had  a  comfortable  home,  was  liberal,  and  kept  a  horse  and 
chaise  ;  but,  above  all,  he  was  honest,  independent,  and  openly 
avowed  the  opinions,  political  and  theological,  of  Mr.  Paine. 
With  him  Mr.  Paine  consented  to  live  till  he  went  to  his  farm 
at  New  Rochelle  ;  and  thus  he  became  a  guest,  and  afterward  a 
boarder  and  lodger  of  a  man  who,  without  meaning  it,  did  his 
memory  a  great  injustice,  by  becoming  the  tool  of  Cheetham 
in  a  fit  of  anger. 

Mrs.  Bonneville  and  her  three  sons  soon  after  arrived  from 
France,  on  invitation  from  Mr.  Paine  to  Mr.  Bonneville  arid 
the  whole  family,  as  mentioned  in  the  introduction  to  this  life. 
Mr.  Paine,  who  was  simple  in  his  habits,  indeed  economical, 
offered  Mrs.  Bonneville  his  small  farm  at  Bordentown,  where 
he  wished  to  establish  her  in  a  school ;  but  this  employment 


CHEETHAM'S  FALSEHOODS — PAINE  IN  BETIREMENT.         145 

did  not  suit  the  habits  or  taste  of  this  lady,  and  thus  the  ex- 
pense of  herself  and  family  fell  entirely  on  Mr.  Paine.  He 
retired  to  New  Rochelle,  and  boarded  with  Purdy,  who  lived 
on  Paine's  farm.  Madam  Bonneville,  however,  preferred  New 
York,  where  she  occasionally  taught  French,  while  the  two 
boys  were  sent  to  school  at  New  Rochelle  by  Mr.  Paine  ;  the 
eldest,  a  youth  of  fourteen,  returned  to  France.  Mr.  Paine 
was  godfather  to  one  of  the  others,  who  had  been  named  after 
him.  He  now  divided  his  time  between  New  York  and  New  Ro- 
chelle, boarding  in  various  places,  and  sometimes  living  on  his 
farm. 

Cheetham  has  represented  Mr.  Paine  at  this  period,  as  dis- 
gustingly dirty,  drunken,  ill-tempered,  and  quarrelsome,  and 
with  much  impudence  he  has  referred  to  living  characters  as 
proofs,  and  thus  he  gives  to  his  falsehoods  the  appearance  of 
truth ;  while  a  portion  of  the  clergy,  eager  to  believe  what 
they  wished  to  be  true,  have  propagated  these  falsehoods  with 
the  utmost  zeal.  We  are,  however,  fortunate  in  being  ac- 
quainted with  those  who  were  about  him  at  this  time,  and 
with  some  of  those  to  whom  Cheetham  refers ;  and  these 
latter  do  not  hesitate  to  blast  the  memory  of  this  writer  of 
Paine's  life  as  a  deliberate  falsifier,  and  as  an  unprincipled 
man.  Both  Carver  and  Mr.  Jarvis,  the  celebrated  painter,  thus 
speak  of  Cheetham,  and  yet  he  has  had  the  impudence  to  re- 
fer to  them  for  events  as  facts  which  he  knew  to  be  fabricated. 
At  this  time,  1803  and  1804,  when  Mr.  Paine  was  backward 
and  forward,  from  New  York  to  New  Rochelle,  he  resided 
for  several  weeks  at  the  private  house  of  Captain  Pelton,  who 
also  kept  the  store  at  New  Rochelle.  He  resided  also  for  two 
months  in  the  winter  with  Mr.  Staple,  at  New  Rochelle.  Mr. 
D.  Burger,  the  brother-in-law  of  Mr.  Staple,  was  the  clerk  to 
Captain  Pelton,  and  when  Mr.  Paine  was  rather  poorly,  he 
drove  him  in  a  gig  daily  about  the  neighborhood.  He,  too, 
supplied  Mr,  Paine  with  all  the  liquor  he  took,  which  was  one 
quart  of  rum  in  a  week,  to  serve  himself  and  visiters.  Mr. 
Burger*  is  well  known  to  us,  he  has  since  lived  for  many 
years  in  New  York,  as  a  watch  and  clock-maker,  and  for 

*  This  gentleman  is  since  dead,  but  his  eldest  son  lives  and  remembers  tho 
statement  of  his  father. 

19 


146  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

some  time  he  had  the  care  of  the  public  clocks ;  his  veracity 
is  not  disputed.  He  describes  Mr.  Paine  as  really  abstemi- 
ous, and  when  pressed  to  drink  by  those  on  whom  he  called 
during  his  rides,  he  usually  refused  with  great  firmness,  but 
politely.  In  one  of  these  rides  he  was  met  by  De  Witt  Clinton, 
and  their  mutual  greetings  were  extremely  hearty.  Mr.  Paine 
at  this  time  was  the  reverse  of  morose,  and  though  careless 
in  his  dress  and  prodigal  of  his  snuff,  he  was  always  clean  and 
well  clothed.  Mr.  Burger  describes  him  as  familiar  even 
with  children,  and  humane  to  animals,  occasionally  sitting 
by  the  store,  playing  with  the  neighboring  children,  and 
communicating  a  friendly  pat,  even  to  a  passing  dog,  assuring 
him  he  would  not  see  him  hurt.  Such  were  the  simple  habits 
of  the  man,  described  to  be  wallowing  in  filth,  drunkenness, 
and  brutality.  At  the  time  of  Mr.  Paine's  residence  at  his 
farm,  Mr.  Ward,  now  a  coffee-roaster  in  Gold  street,  New 
Yoik,  and  an  assistant  alderman,  was  then  a  little  boy  and 
residing  about  Rochelle.  He  remembers  the  impressions 
his  mother  and  some  religious  people  made  on  him  by 
speaking  of  Tom  Paine,  so  that  he  concluded  Tom  Paine 
must  be  a  very  bad  and  brutal  man.  Some  of  his  elder 
companions  proposed  going  into  Mr.  Paine's  orchard  to  obtain 
some  fruit,  and  he,  out  of  fear,  kept  at  a  distance  behind, 
till  he  beheld,  to  his  surprise,  Mr.  Paine  come  out  and 
assist  the  boys  in  getting  apples,  patting  one  on  the  head 
and  caressing  another,  and  directing  them  where  to  get  the 
best.  He  then  advanced  and  received  his  share  of  encour- 
agement, and  the  impression  this  kindness  made  on  him 
determined  him  at  a  very  early  period  to  examine  his 
writings.  His  mother  at  first  took  the  books  from  him,  but 
at  a  later  period  restored  them  to  him,  observing  that  he  was 
then  of  an  age  to  judge  for  himself  j  perhaps  she  had  herself 
been  gradually  undeceived,  both  as  to  his  character  and 
writings. 

In  1804,  Mr.  Purdy  having  left  his  farm,  Mr.  Paine  hired 
one  Derick  to  cultivate  it,  when  he  and  the  family  of  the 
Bonnevilles  boarded  for  some  time  at  Mr.  James  Wilburn's,  in 
Gold  street.  At  this  period  Mr.  John  Fellows,  still  living  in 
New  York,  and  respected  as  a  good  citizen,  boarded  at  the 


PAINE  AND  MADAME  BONNEVILLE.  147 

same  house,  and  testifies  to  the  propriety  both  of  Mr.  Paine's 
and  Madame  Bonneville's  conduct.  Mr.  Paine's  notions  of 
economy  did  not  however  accord  with  those  of  Madame  Bon- 
neville.  She  was  constantly  incurring  expenses  which  he 
deemed  unnecessary,  while  she,  relying  upon  the  protection 
which  he  had  promised  both  her  and  her  husband,  did  not 
scruple  to  send  bills  in  to  him  which  he  had  not  sanctioned. 
One  of  these  was  presented  by  Mr.  Wilburn,  for  board  to  the 
amount  of  thirty-five  dollars,  which  she  had  incurred  beyond 
what  he  had  sanctioned.  This  demand  Mr.  Paine  resisted, 
perhaps  to  check  Mrs.  Bonneville,  and  make  her  either  con- 
tent with  a  simple  competence  at  his  farm  in  Bordentown,  or 
with  him  at  Kochelle,  or  that  she  should  by  industry  acquire 
the  means  of  a  more  ample  expenditure.  The  action  was 
brought,  and  Mr.  Fellows  was  a  witness ;  but  the  plaintiff  was 
nonsuited,  for  the  debt  had  been  incurred  without  Mr.  Paine's 
consent.  No  sooner,  however,  was  the  trial  ended  in  the  favor 
of  Mr.  Paine  than  he  paid  Mr.  Wilburn  the  money ;  thus 
justifying  the  view  we  have  taken  of  this  subject.  Honorable 
and  liberal  as  this  transaction  is  to  Mr.  Paine,  Cheetham,  and 
after  him  Mr.  Paine's  enemies,  have  retailed  this  story  as  if 
it  were  to  his  discredit.  There  is  no  reconciling  tastes  or 
standards  of  expenditure.  Madame  Bonneville's  was  probably 
too  high  to  be  prudent.  Taste  is  a  gift  of  nature,  but  partly 
depending  on  education.  A  difference  of  tastes,  where  two 
persons  are  interested,  will  always  lead  to  divisions,  and 
Madame  Bonneville  does  not  seem  to  have  readily  yielded,  or 
to  have  been  very  scrupulous  as  to  the  means  she  employed. 
On  one  occasion,  as  we  learn  from  Mr.  Carver,  and  as  Cheet- 
ham has  expressed  in  a  note  (if  such  authority  can  be  relied  on), 

"Before  his  return  to  the  city,  Madame  Bonneville  paid  him 
a  visit,  and  arrived  just  at  candle-light.  She  told  him  she  had 
an  order  which  she  wished  him  to  sign,  for  clothing  for  herself 
and  the  children,  who  were  all  in  fact  nearly  naked.  She  pre- 
sented the  order.  Paine  said,  '  I'll  put  it  in  my  pocket  and  read 
it  in  the  morning.' — '  No,'  said  she,  '  you  must  sign  it  to-night  : 
I  want  to  return  and  get  the  things  to-morrow.' — '  I  cannot 
read  in  the  night,  I'll  keep  it  till  morning.' — '  Then,'  said  Mad- 
ame Bonneville,  with  some  temper,'if  you  won't  read  it  to-night, 
give  it  me  back.'  Paine  resisted  all  her  importunities  :  he  kept 


148  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

the  paper  until  the  morning',  when  he  found,  that  instead  of  an 
order  for  clothing,  it  was  a  bond,  duly  drawn,  for  seven  hundred 
pounds.  Quite  enraged,  he  went  to  Mrs.  Dean's  and  told  her 
the  story,  by  whom,  and  by  Mr.  Carver,  it  is  mentioned  to  me." 

In  these  circumstances  Madame  Bonneville  was  some- 
times left  to  want  what  she  thought  comforts,  yet  it  does  not 
appear  that  they  had  any  serious  quarrels,  although  these 
differences  interrupted  that  cordial  intimacy  which  both  per- 
haps expected.  Yet,  at  his  death,  we  shall  find  he  left  her,  her 
husband,  and  family,  the  bulk  of  his  property,  which  was 
then  very  considerable. 

During  this  time  Mr.  Paine  was  not  idle,  he  had  generally 
some  work  on  politics,  science,  or  literature,  on  hand.  He 
mixed  a  little  too  with  party  politics,  communicated  with  some 
papers  and  periodicals,  and,  when  Cheetham  deserted  the  demo- 
cratic cause,  he  lashed  him  with  the  severity  of  party  spirit, 
but  not  unjustly  ;  and  hence  the  revenge  which  Cheetham 
afterward  took.  Mr.  Paine  now,  too,  published  many  little 
things  which  had  been  written  long  before  for  amusement 
when  in  France  or  in  England.  One  of  these  was  a  piece  of 
poetry  in  the  style  of  "  Chevy  Chase,"  entitled,  "  The  Strange 
Story  of  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram,"  perhaps  the  severest 
thing  ever  written  upon  tythes.  In  1804-  he  published  an  essay 
on  the  invasion  of  England,  and  a  treatise  on  gun-boats,  full  of 
valuable  maritime  information  ;  and,  in  1805,  a  treatise  on  the 
yellow  fever,  and  suggests  modes  of  prevention,  especially  in 
the  improvement  of  the  docks,  so  as  to  favor  cleanliness.  He 
had  now  been  residing  for  some  time  at  New  Rochelle,  when 
Mr.  Carver  rode  out  to  see  him,  and  in  his  zeal  urged  him  to 
come  into  the  city  to  oblige  his  friends,  and  offered  him  a 
room  in  his  house.  Mr.  Paine  consented,  and  thus  again 
became  an  inmate  with  Mr.  Carver,  without  any  engagement 
as  to  terms,  an  error  extremely  injurious  in  its  conse- 
quence. Mr.  Paine  lived  with  the  family,  and  occasionally 
made  purchases  for  them,  thus  complicating  the  accounts. 
While  he  thus  resided  in  Cedar  street,  with  Mr.  Carver,  his 
friend,  Elihu  Palmer,  with  his  wife,  boarded  in  the  same  street, 
and  within  sight  of  Mrs.  Burtsell's  ;  him  Mr.  Paine  visited 
daily,  and  when  Mr.  Paine  was  seized  with  an  epileptic  fit,  and 


PAINE  AND  JARVIS.  149 

fell  down  stairs,  Mrs.  Palmer  attended  on  him.     The  attend- 
ance which  he  thus  required,  when  ill,   still  farther  served  to 
complicate  the  accounts  between  him  and  Mr.  Carver.     Mrs. 
Burtsell,  still  living  in  Cedar  street,  speaks  with  enthusiasm  of 
the  agreeable  manners  of  Mr.  Paine.     She  declares  she  never 
saw  him  intoxicated,  though  he  was  daily  in  her  house.     By 
the  advice  of  a  medical  man  Mr.  Paine  now  left  Mr.  Carver's, 
and  lived  in  Church  street  with  Mr.  Jarvis,  the    celebrated 
painter,  still  living.*     Here  he  soon  recovered,  and  he  and 
Mr.  Jarvis  became  good  companions  ;  the  one  the  greatest  wit 
of  the  age,  and   the    other,    though  now   an  old  man,   not 
deficient  in  sprightly  thoughts  or  conversation,  and  abounding 
in  information.    Mr.  Jarvis  still  speaks  of  their  agreeable  com- 
panionship with  much  gust,  and  relates  a  number  of  anecdotes 
highly  characteristic ;   and   he  positively  denies  to    us   the 
language  ascribed  to  him  by  Cheetham.     As  Mr.  Jarvis  was 
at  this  time  in  good  circumstances,  and  received  Mr.  Paine  as 
a  companion,  the  Cheetham  stories  of  Mr.  Paine's  dirtiness 
kill  themselves,  for  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  Mr.  Jarvis  would 
have  had   such  a  companion.     The  following  are  among  the 
anecdotes  related  by  Mr.  Jarvis  in  relation  to  Mr.  Paine  : — 

"  He  usually  took  a  nap  after  dinner,  and  would  not  be  dis- 
turbed let  who  would  call  to  see  him.  One  afternoon,  a  very 
old  lady,  dressed  in  a  large  scarlet  cloak,  knocked  at  the  door, 
and  inquired  for  Thomas  Paine.  Mr.  Jarvis  told  her  he  was 
asleep.  'I  am  very  sorry,'  she  said, '  for  that,  for  I  want  to  see 
him  very  particularly.'  Thinking  it  a  pity  to  make  an  old 
woman  call  twice,  Mr.  Jarvis  took  her  into  Paine's  bed-room 
and  waked  him.  He  rose  upon  one  elbow,  and  then,  with  an 
expression  of  eye  that  staggered  the  old  woman  back  a  step 
or  two,  he  asked — 'What  do  you  want  V — 'Is  your  name 
Paine  V— '  Yes,'  Well  then,  I  come  from  Almighty  God,  to  tell 
you,  that  if  you  do  not  repent  of  your  sins  and  believe  in  our 

blessed  Savior  Jesus  Christ,  you  will  be  damned,  and' 

4  Poh,  poh,  it  is  not  true.  You  were  not  sent  with  such  an 
impertinent  message.  Jarvis,  make  her  go  away.  Pshaw,  he 
would  not  send  such  a  foolish  ugly  old  woman,  as  you  about 
with  his  messages.  Go  away.  Go  back.  Shut  the  door.7 
The  old  lady  raised  both  her  hands,  kept  them  so,  and  without 
saying  another  word,  walked  away  in  mute  astonishment." 

*  Died  since  the  manuscript  was  written. 


150  LIFE    OF   THOMAS   PAINE. 

Mr.  Paine  still  visited  New  Rochelle,  while  ostensibly  with 
Mr.  Jarvis.     He  had  left  Mr.  Carver  without  any  direct  settle- 
ment of    accounts.      Mr.   Carver's   circumstances  had  now 
altered  from  some  family  affairs  which  he  could  not  control, 
and  altered  circumstances  produced  altered  feelings.     When 
Mr.  Carver  was  in  good  circumstances,  he  thought  only  of  the 
honor  and  pleasure  of  having  Mr.  Paine  under  the  same  roof 
with  him,  the  terms  of  his  hoard  were  a  secondary  consider- 
ation.    We  have  already  remarked  that  no  agreement  was 
made.     Now  in  altered  circumstances,   of  which  Mr.  Paine 
does  not    appear  to  be    aware,    his   charge   was  an  object. 
In  the  first  note  from  Carver  to  Mr.  Paine  on  this  subject, 
published  by  Cheetham,  Mr.  Carver  uses  this  expression,   "  1 
have  made  a  calculation  of  my  expenditures  on  your  account,  the 
last  time  you  were  at  my  house,  and  find  they  amount  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  or  sixty  dollars."     He  charges  for  twenty- 
two  weeks  for  Mr.  Paine  and  twelve  for  Mrs.  Palmer,  who 
assisted  him  in  his  illness  ;  and  he  takes  no  notice  of  the  few 
things  Mr.  Paine  had  purchased.     He  reminds  Mr.  Paine  of 
his  riches,  and  concludes  by  saying  that  he  should  not  ask  one 
cent  if  he  could  afford  it.     Mr.  Paine  at  this  time  did  not  ex- 
pect a  long  life.     The  fit  and  subsequent  sickness  had  shaken 
his  constitution.     He  had  put  Mr.  Carver  down  in  his  will  for 
a  handsome  sum  ;  and  from  the  manner  of  the  invitation  and 
supposed  circumstances  of  Mr.  Carver,  perhaps  he  never  ex- 
pected a  formal  charge.     At  any  rate,  Mr.  Paine  was  indig- 
nant at  this  charge,  which  he  considered  unjust,  and  proposed 
paying  the  money  down  at  once,  and  having  nothing  more  to 
do  with  him.     This  he  was  prevented  from  doing  by  Mr.  John 
Fellows,  who  was  present  when  the  demand  was  made  by  Mr. 
Carver's  boy.     Mr.  Fellows  and  Mr.  Morton,  the  friends  of 
Mr.  Paine,  considered  the  charge  too  high ;  and  these  finally 
settled  the  account  upon  what  they  considered  just  principles. 
The  charge  might  have  been  perfectly  just,  as,  in  Mr.  Carver's 
altered   circumstances,  he  might  have   remembered   former 
hospitalities,  for  he  refers  to  them  in  one  of  his  letters.    There 
might  have  been  but  a  trifling  difference  had  Mr.  Paine  made 
up  the  account.     The  fault  was,  not  having  a  definite  agree- 
ment j  and  this  foolish  affair  produced  a  quarrel.     Mr.  Paine 


CARVER'S  LETTER — CHEETHA.M.  151 

replied  to  this  note  in  an  angry  manner  to  Mr.  Carver,  and 
Carver,  remarkable  for  his  boldness,  replied  in  the  severest 
terms  possible,  giving  the  very  worst  construction  to 
every  event  concerning  Mr.  Paine  he  could  think  of.  His 
epileptic  fit  he  insinuates  was  drunkenness ;  and  he  infers  an 
improper  connexion  with  Madame  Bonneville,  merely  however 
in  an  inuendo,  with  a  sarcastic  remark  about  young  Thomas,  the 
godson,  being  like  Mr.  Paine.  He  refers  to  his  trouble  when 
Mr.  Paine  was  sick,  and  reminds  him  of  the  quantity  of  water 
he  procured  for  his  personal  cleanliness.  This  personal 
quarrel  was  soon  forgotten,  and  the  angry  letters  should  have 
been  destroyed ;  but  both  letters  had  been  read  in  public  by 
some  zealous  friends,  and  copies  were  taken.  They  ought  to 
have  been  obliterated ;  but  after  Mr.  Paine's  death,  in  1809, 
Cheetham  sought  out  Mr.  Carver,  obtained  a  copy,  deceived 
him  as  to  his  intention  and  the  nature  of  his  publication,  and 
published  these  letters  against  Carver's  will.  The  mere  pub- 
lication of  these  letters  would  avail  nothing  among  a  candid 
people ;  they  were  avowedly  written  in  anger,  but  there  were 
persons  who  wished  to  believe.  Even  among  such  these 
angry  letters  could  avail  but  little ;  but  Mr.  Cheetham,  with 
fiendish  ingenuity,  not  only  inserted  these  letters,  but  in  other 
parts  of  his  life,  presuming  on  their  publication,  boldly  asserts 
as  facts  what  Carver  had  only  insinuated,  leaving  the  impres- 
sion that  these  letters  are  additional  confirmations  of  the  facts, 
instead  of  the  only  foundation  for  such  reports.  Thus  he  di- 
rectly charges  Mr.  Paine  with  adultery  with  Madame  Bonne- 
ville. He  charges  him  with  drunkenness,  coarseness,  and 
dirtiness  directly,  which  are  only  insinuated  or  implied  in 
Carver's  angry  letters.  In  the  first  charge  Mrs.  Bonneville 
was  implicated,  and  she  very  properly  prosecuted  Cheetham. 
On  the  trial,  which  we  have  read,  he  could  only  bring  Mr. 
Carver  as  witness,  and  Mr.  Carver  could  only  say  what  he 
had  before  written,  and  his  counsel  was  obliged  to  withdraw 
the  justification  and  acknowledge  that  the  accusation  was  a 
FALSE  and  MALICIOUS  libel.  The  other  charges  applied  to  Mr. 
Paine  only,  and  he  was  dead  and  could  not  prosecute.  We, 
after  diligent  inquiry,  believe  them  also  false  and  malicious, 
and  that  they  have  no  other  foundation  than  the  angry  letter 


152  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

of  Mr.  Carver,  and  the  malicious  revengeful  spirit  of  Cheet- 
ham ;  for  this  reason  we  have  detailed  this  foolish  quarrel. 

We  have  now  approached  the  year  1807,  the  seventieth  of 
Mr.  Paine's  life,  and  two  years  only  before  his  death.  In  the 
spring  of  this  year  he  removed  to  Broome  street,  at  one  Mr. 
Hitt's,  a  baker  ;  here  he  lived  some  time  ;  and  while  in  Broome 
street  he  published  an  examination  of  the  passages  in  the  New 
Testament,  quoted  from  the  Old,  and  called  "  Prophesies  of 
Jesus  Christ,"  &c.  This  work  shows  all  the  acumen  of  his 
former  works  j  it  marks  the  most  laborious  examination  of  the 
Scriptures.  The  Bible  of  Mr.  Paine  had  been  most  carefully 
read,  it  was  marked  all  over ;  indeed,  no  book  had  been  read 
by  him  more  than  that. 

Mr.  Paine  lived  successively  in  Partition  street  and  afterward 
in  Greenwich  street,  near  the  state-prison ;  but  his  sickness  in- 
creased on  him,  and  boarding-house  attention  was  scarcely  suf- 
ficient. Madame  Bonneville  took  a  small  house  for  him,  May, 
1809,  in  Columbia  street,  and  here  she  attended  on  him  till  his 
death.  Mr.  Paine  was  perfectly  conscious  of  his  approaching 
dissolution,  and  some  time  before  he  wished  to  arrange  for  his 
burial  in  the  quakers'  burying-ground,  as  the  least  obnoxious 
to  his  feelings  ;  and  for  this  purpose  he  applied  to  Mr.  Willit 
Hicks,  a  preacher  and  influential  member  of  that  body,  as  his 
father  had  been  of  that  persuasion.  Mr.  Hicks  saw  no  objec- 
tion, he  had  no  prejudice  on  his  own  account,  and  brought 
this  subject  before  the  church;  and  to  their  discredit  they 
denied  the  request. 

While  Mr.  Paine  was  at  Mr.  Jarvis's  he  seemed  to  foresee 
what  would  be  the  scene  of  his  death-bed,  and  what  some 
fanatical  persons  would  attempt  after  his  death.  With  that 
shrewdness  of  judgment  which  he  always  possessed,  and  which 
displayed  itself  during  the  revolution,  by  his  instantly  antici- 
pating what  the  British  government  would  do,  he  was  enabled 
to  prepare  the  people  for  the  various  proclamations  and  de- 
ceptive propositions  before  they  arrived ;  nay,  some  of  these 
appeared  but  a  repetition  of  Paine's  statements.  The  conse- 
quence was,  they  lost  their  effect,  as  far  as  his  influence 
went.  So,  on  this  occasion,  he  foretold  that  when  on  a  sick 
bed  attempts  would  be  made  to  convert  him  to  Christianity, 


DEATH-BED  OF  MR.  PAINE.  153 

or  to  make  it  appear  that  he  was  converted ;  and  that  after  his 
death  reports  would  be  spread  of  his  death-bed  repentance,  of 
his  unbelief;  then,  appealing  to  Mr.  Jarvis,  he  observed, 
"  Now  I  am  in  health,  and  in  perfect  soundness  of  mind  ;  now 
is  the  time  to  express  my  opinion."  And  thus  having  called  / 
Mr.  Jarvis  to  witness,  he  solemnly  repeated  his  belief  in  his 
already  written  opinions. 

What  Mr.  Paine  had  foreseen  came  to  pass.  As  his  illness 
assumed  a  fatal  appearance  he  was  visited  by  men  and  women 
who  obtruded  upon  his  last  moments  their  religious  principles, 
either  from  Christian  simplicity  and  ignorant  sincerity,  and, 
most  likely,  in  some  of  them,  from  hypocrisy  ;  in  the  hopes  of 
being  able  to  contort  some  of  his  answers  into  a  manifestation 
of  fear  or  conversion,  or  to  give  them  an  opportunity  of  in- 
venting a  recantation  for  him.  This  is  by  no  means  an  un- 
charitable supposition  from  the  facts  which  followed  his  death, 
when  the  second  part  of  Mr.  Paine's  prophesy  was  fulfilled 
by  an  invention  of  the  kind,  and  by  pious  falsehoods  promul- 
gated to  willing  ears.  The  position  is  not  uncharitable,  for 
the  dying  moments  of  Voltaire  have  been  misrepresented  by 
similar  pious  frauds.  Nor  are  these  the  only  instances  where 
base  falsehoods  have  been  perpetrated  in  the  name  of  God 
for  a  supposed  pious  purpose.  Even  the  judge,  who  after- 
ward sentenced  Cheetham  for  a  false  and  malicious  libel  on 
the  memory  of  Mr.  Paine  and  Madame  Bonneville,  declared 
Cheetham's  life  a  useful  book,  because  it  tended  to  suppress 
the  influence  of  Mr.  Paine's  writings.  After  these  and  other 
proofs  of  lying,  for  the  sake  of  God,  in  remembrance  too  of 
the  counterpart,  we  think  we  are  justified  in  assuming  that 
some  of  the  visiters  were  hypocrites,  and  came  there  to  dis- 
tort his  answers,  or  as  an  excuse  for  invention,  than  for  any 
reasonable  hope  of  converting  and  saving  his  soul.  Among 
the  most  prominent  and  zealous  visiters  of  Mr.  Paine  in  his 
last  days  were  the  Rev.  Mr.  Milledollar,  a  presbyterian 
clergyman,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cunningham,  about  a  fortnight 
before  Mr.  Paine's  death.  This  latter  gentleman  told  Paine 
that  they  visited  him  as  friends  and  neighbors,  and  added, 
"  You  have  now  a  full  view  of  death,  you  cannot  live  long,  and 
whosoever  does  not  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  will  assuredly  be 

20 


154 


LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE, 


damned."  Mr.  Paine  replied,  "  Let  me  have  none  of  your 
popish  stuff.  Get  away  with  you.  Good  morning,  good 
morning."  Mr.  Milledollar  attempted  to  address  him,  but  was 
interrupted  by  Mr.  Paine  ;  and  when  they  were  gone,  he  said 
to  Mrs.  Hedden,  his  housekeeper,  "  Don't  let'em  come  here 
again,  they  trouble  me."  In  spite  of  Mr.  Paine's  declaration 
these  gentlemen  again  attempted  to  obtrude  themselves  upon 
him,  but  they  were  refused  admittance,  as  directed,  by  Mrs. 
Hedden,  who  piously  added,  "  If  God  does  not  change  his 
mind,  she  was  sure  no  human  power  could." 

Mr.  Willit  Hicks,  himself  a  preacher,  a  most  respectable 
member  of  the  friends,  and  a  man  of  high  standing  in  the  com- 
munity, yet  alive,  was  then  a  neighbor  of  Mr.  Paine,  and  in 
his  last  illness  visited  him  daily,  and  on  the  day  of  his  death. 
This  gentleman,  whom  we  especially  visited,  assured  us  that 
Mr.  Paine  was  beset  by  clergymen ;  that  on  one  occasion  a 
methodist  minister  obtruded  on  Mr.  Paine  when  he,  Mr. 
Hicks,  was  present.  The  minister,  we  suppose  sincerely, 
declared  to  Mr.  Paine,  with  uplifted  hands,  that  "  unless  he 
repented  of  his  unbelief  he  would  be  damned."  Mr.  Hicks 
describes  Mr.  Paine  as  rising  in  his  bed  with  indignation  at 
the  intrusion  and  ignorant  presumption,  and,  sick  as  he  was, 
declaring  that  if  he  was  able  he  would  immediately  put  him 
out  of  the  room.  We  recently  met  one  of  these  visiting 
parties  who  sought  to  convert  Mr.  Paine  on  his  death-bed,  a 
Mr.  Pigott,  formerly  a  legislator,  and  now  a  man  of  high 
moral  standing.  He  has  a  brother  a  minister,  a  learned  stu- 
dious man,  but  unfortunately  blind.  He  was  so  at  the  time 
of  Mr.  Paine's  death,  and  he  felt  desirous  of  converting  Mr. 
Paine,  and  engaged  his  brother,  Mr.  Pigott,  our  informant,  to 
go  with  him.  With  some  difficulty  they  obtained  access,  for 
Mr.  Paine  was  then  annoyed,  as  we  have  seen,  by  obtruders ; 
but  as  this  gentleman  had  once  adopted  the  opinions  of  Mr. 
Paine,  and  was  then  blind,  these  qualities  obtained  the 
brothers  an  audience.  Mr.  Pigott  remarked  that  Mr.  Paine 
was  in  bed  and  sick,  but  that  he  received  them  with  politeness, 
and  cheerfully  conversed  with  his  brother,  who  was  a  learned 
thoughtful  man  ;  but  when  his  brother  proceeded  to  state  that 
he  had  changed  his  opinions,  and  about  to  urge  on  Mr.  Paine, 


DEATH-BED  OF  MR.  PAINE.  155 

sincerely  in  this  case  no  doubt,  the  necessity  of  re-examina- 
tion and  conversation,  Mr.  Paine  abruptly  closed  the  con- 
versation, and  intimated  his  displeasure,  and  a  wish  for  their 
immediate  departure  ;  and  they  thus  left  the  room.  Mr.  Pigott 
describes  Mr.  Paine  as  a  large-faced  man,  with  a  most  pene- 
trating eye,  and  immense  of  expression  of  countenance,  mark- 
ing lively  sensibilities,  which  the  peculiar  character  of  the 
visit  brought  out;  for  he  had  seen  him  pleased  with  his 
brother,  intelligent  and  communicative,  and  then  indignant 
at  supposing  the  brother  could  change  his  opinions. 

The  friends  of  Mr.  Paine  visited  him  till  his  death.  Mr. 
Jarvis  saw  him  one  or  two  days  before  his  dissolution,  and  on 
that  day  he  had  expected  to  die  during  the  night,  to  Mr.  Jarvis 
he  expressed  a  continued  belief  in  his  written  opinions ;  of 
this  we  are  informed  by  Mr.  Jarvis.  Mr.  Thomas  Dixon,  and 
his  old  friend  Mr.Pelton,  visited  him  expressly  on  the  subject 
of  his  opinions,  so  did  Mr.  B.  F.  Hasken,  a  respectable  attor- 
ney, now  residing  in  Chambers  street,  New  York ;  and,  as  they 
say,  aware  that  falsehoods  might  be  resorted  to,  because 
such  means  had  before  been  used  with  others,  they  put  down 
Mr.  Paine's  answers  in  writing.  But  when  they  first  proposed 
their  questions,  as  Mr.  Paine  did  not  know  their  motive,  he 
seemed  hurt  that  they  should  suppose  he  had  any  doubts  on 
the  subject.  We  have  this  account  personally  from  Mr. 
Hasken,  and  we  shall  give  a  letter  from  Mr.  T.  Dixon  and 
Mr.  D.  Pelton  in  another  place.  Mr.  Paine  suffered  consider- 
ably in  his  illness,  but  he  retained  his  mental  faculties  to  the 
last.  Death  made  slow  approaches,  and  dropsy,  attended  by  a 
cough  and  vomiting,  were  the  last  symptoms  of  approaching 
dissolution.  On  the  eighth  of  June,  about  nine  in  the  morn- 
ing, he  died,  placid  and  almost  without  a  struggle,  notwith- 
standing his  previous  sufferings.  And  his  last  words,  as  re- 
corded by  Dr.  Manley  were — "  I  have  no  wish  to  believe  on 
the  subject,"  in  answer  to  the  question,  "  Do  you  wish  to 
believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God  V  put  by  the  pious  doctor 
himself,  who  was  curious  on  the  subject. 

Fortunately  we  have  the  living  testimony  of  the  person  who 
sat  up  with  Mr.  Paine  on  the  night  previous  to  his  death. 
This  testimony  cost  us  a  journey  to  Boston,  but  we  are 


156  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

amply  repaid  for  our  labor.  On  our  return  we  published  the 
testimony  in  the  Beacon  of  June  5,  1839,  Vol.  III.,  page  240. 
A  precaution  we  have  taken  for  these  eight  years,  during 
which  time  we  have  had  the  command  of  a  press ;  for  aware 
that  many  of  the  witnesses  to  this  history,  being  then  advanced 
in  years,  might  die,  we  published  their  testimony  in  detail 
while  yet  alive,  and  capable  of  verifying  our  statements  if 
correct,  or  of  contradicting  them  if  erroneous.  As  a  speci- 
men of  this  method  of  chronicling  events,  which  we  meant  to 
imbody  in  this  work,  we  extract  the  following  from  the  Bea- 
con (see  reference  above)  : — 

THOMAS  PAINE'S  DEATH-BED. 

"  We  have  just  returned  from  Boston.  One  object  of  our 
visit  to  that  city,  was  to  see  a  Mr.  Amasa  Woodsworth,  an 
engineer,  now  retired  in  a  handsome  cottage  and  garden  at 
East  Cambridge,  Boston.  This  gentleman  owned  the  house 
rented  by  Mrs.  Bonneville  for  Mr.  Paine  at  his  death  ;  while 
he  lived  next  door.  As  an  act  of  kindness  Mr.  Woodsworth 
visited  Mr.  Paine  every  day  for  six  weeks  before  his  death ; 
he  frequently  sat  up  with  him,  and  did  so  on  the  last  two 
nights  of  his  life.  He  was  always  there  with  Dr.  Manley  the 
physician,  and  assisted  in  removing  Mr.  Paine,  while  his  bed 
was  prepared:  he  was  present  when  Dr.  Manley  asked  Mr. 
Paine  '  if  he  wished  to  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Son 
of  God,'  and  he  describes  Mr.  Paine's  answer  as  animated. 
He  says,  that  lying  on  his  back,  he  used  some  action,  and 
with  much  emphasis  replied,  '  I  have  no  wish  to  believe  on 
that  subject.'  He  lived  a  short  time  after  this,  but  was  not 
known  to  speak,  for  he  died  tranquilly.  He  accounts  for  the 
insinuating  style  of  Dr.  Manley's  letter,  by  stating  that  that 
gentleman  just  after  its  publication  joined  a  church.  He  in- 
forms us  that  he  has  openly  reproved  the  doctor  for  the  falsity 
contained  in  the  spirit  of  that  letter,  boldly  declaring  before 
Dr.  Manley,  who  is  yet  living,  that  nothing  which  he  saw 
justified  his  (the  doctor's)  insinuations.  Mr.  Woodsworth 
assures  us  that  he  neither  heard  nor  saw  anything  to  justify 
the  belief  of  any  mental  change  in  the  opinions  of  Mr.  Paine 
previous  to  his  death ;  but  that  being  very  ill  and  in  pain, 
chiefly  arising  from  the  skin  being  removed  in  some  parts  by 
long  laying,  he  was  generally  too  uneasy  to  enjoy  conversa- 
tion on  abstract  subjects.  This,  then,  is  the  best  evidence 
that  can  be  procured  on  this  subject,  and  we  publish  it  while 
the  contravening  parties  are  yet  alive,  and  with  the  authority 
of  Mr.  Woodsworth. — G.  v." 


DEATH  OF  MR.  PAINE.  157 

Mr.  Woodsworth  is  yet  alive,  and  his  testimony  has  derived 
additional  importance  from  the  evidence  of  Mr.  Willet  Hicks, 
which  we  shall  shortly  give.  We  refer  especially  to  his  re- 
marks on  the  conduct  of  Dr.  Manley ;  and  when  we  produce 
Mr.  Hicks'  evidence,  we  shall  have  to  request  that  our  readers 
will  return  to  the  previous  page,  and  again  read  this  testimony, 
and  compare  it  with  that  evidence. 

The  day  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Paine  he  was  taken  from  his 
house  in  Greenwich  street  to  NewRochelle,  attended  by  a- few 
friends,  and  was  there  buried  on  his  farm,  and  a  plain  stone 
was  erected  to  his  memory,  with  the  following  inscription:— 

THOMAS  PAINE, 

AUTHOR  OF  "  COMMON  SENSE." 

Died  June  8,  1809,  aged  seventy-two  years  and  jive  months. 

Mr.  Paine  left  behind  him  a  manuscript  in  answer  to  Bishop 
Watson.  A  copy  of  this  is  now  in  the  hands  of  Madame  Bon- 
neville.  A  catholic  priest  in  this  country  borrowed  another 
copy  of  her,  which  has  never  been  returned. 

In  reviewing  the  life  of  Mr.  Thomas  Paine,  we  can  see  no 
defect  in  his  public  character.  He  was  a  citizen  of  the  world, 
and  served  its  interests  to  the  best  of  his  abilities,  which  were 
great.  "Where  liberty  is,  that  is  my  country,"  said  Dr.  / 
Franklin.  Mr.  Paine  replied,  "  Where  liberty  is  not,  that  is 
my  country,"  in  reference  to  his  exertions  for  liberty  in  the 
United  States,  England,  and  France.  Paine  wrote  for  man- 
kind, and  he  maybe  emphatically  styled  "  the  friend  of  man." 
Here  he  was  a  good  citizen,  and  a  firm  supporter  of  the  gov- 
ernment ;  because  that  government  is  based  upon  the  rights 
of  man,  with  the  exception  of  the  recognition  of  slavery  in  the 
southern  states,  unfortunately  engrafted  on  the  community 
before  the  war  of  independence.  Whatever  may  be  the 
opinion  of  Mr.  Paine's  theological  works,  his  honesty  in  pub-  , 
lishing  them  cannot  be  doubted  by  any  impartial  reader.  He  \J 
believed  those  opinions  true,  and  he  believed  the  truth  useful 
to  mankind ;  while  his  especial  object  was  to  establish  a  re- 
ligious principle  in  France,  then  becoming  atheistical.  The 


158  LIFE    OF   THOMAS   PAINE. 

best  argument  in  support  of  deism  is  to  be  found  in  the  first 
part  of  the  "  Age  of  Reason."  In  this  view  of  the  subject  Mr. 
Paine  ought  to  have  been  taken  by  the  hand  by  every  believer 
in  the  existence,  wisdom,  power,  and  goodness  of  one  supreme 
God,  the  maker  and  sustainer  of  the  universe.  Mr.  Paine  gave 
up  the  copyright  of  his  theological  works,  just  as  he  had  done 
that  of  his  political,  and  for  the  same  reason,  public  good. 
His  prudence  in  publishing  his  "  Age  of  Reason,"  has  been 
doubted ;  and  if  he  had  been  ambitious,  and  had  consulted  his 
own  interest,  he  would  have  abstained  from  such  a  publication ; 
but  he  was  neither  ambitious  nor  covetous,  except  of  honest 
fame,  from  honest  and  intelligent  men,  and  that  he  has  obx> 
tained.  His  political  career  was  run,  and  the  doors  apparently 
closed  against  an  extension  of  liberty  at  that  time,  and  there- 
fore his  political  usefulness  was  not  injured.  The  United 
States  had  accomplished  her  independence  ;  the  revolution  in 
France  was  completed,  and  liberty  disgraced  by  excesses 
which  the  "  Age  of  Reason"  was  intended  to  restrain,  as  it 
taught  toleration ;  while  in  England  the  cause  of  liberty  was 
checked  by  war,  and  his  political  works  suppressed;  but 
church  aggressions  were  oppressive  ;  there  the  "Age  of  Reason" 
had  nearly  effected  a  revolution,  and  the  odious  system  of 
tythes  was  almost  prostrated.  We  cannot  then  admit  that 
Mr.  Paine  was  imprudent  in  the  publication.  The  age  of 
reason  has  now  arrived,  at  least  in  New  York,  and  every  man 
chooses  to  read  and  think  for  himself,  whatever  may  be  his 
conclusions  ;  and  Mr.  Paine  was  scarcely  in  advance  of  the 
age. 

Of  Mr.  Paine's  private  character,  we  cannot  say  it  was  per- 
fect. We  should  be  sorry  if  we  could ;  for  then  we  could 
not  hope  to  be  believed.  Mr.  Paine  was  a  part  of  human 
nature,  and  partook  of  its  imperfections.  He  wrote  a  foolish 
angry  letter  to  Carver.  He  was,  no  doubt,  penurious,  to  a 
limited  extent,  in  his  old  age  ;  and  in  sickness  we  can  easily 
conceive  of  his  being  sometimes  peevish  and  angry ;  he  would 
not  be  man  if  he  were  not ;  but  these  are  all  the  personal 
blemishes  we  can  discover,  and  these  are  counterbalanced  by 
the  most  noble  and  social  qualities.  He  had  a  heart  to  feel 
for  the  distresses  of  mankind,  and  a  head  to  conceive  the 


MR*  PAINE'S  PRIVATE  LIFE.  159 

toeans  of  relief.  The  charge  of  Madame  Bonneville  and  family 
was  at  once  an  act  of  generosity  and  gratitude,  however  unpleas* 
ant  their  different  tastes,  or  sense  of  propriety  rendered  their 
mutual  duties.  Mr.  Paine  possessed  every  prominent  virtue 
(if  not  in  perfection,  which  human  nature  forbids)  in  large 
proportions  ;  and  to  these  he  added  the  most  social  qualities* 
in  public,  without  being  a  great  talker,  he  was  cheerful,  commu- 
nicative, abounding  in  information  and  anecdote,  and  in  private 
he  was  not  less  agreeable,  on  the  testimony  of  Mr.  John 
Fellows,  Mr.  Jarvis,  and  a  host  of  others,  his  companions. 
Few  people  are  aware  of  the  morals  and  decorum  of  Mr.  Paine. 
We  have  already  observed  that  he  never  used  vulgar  oaths, 
and  that  he  even  goodhumoredly  reproved  his  friends  who 
did.  Mr.  Jarvis,  who  gave  us  the  above  information,  observed 
that  he  once,  by  way  of  a  joke,  advised  Mr.  Paine  to  recant, 
and  publish  his  recantation  as  a  hoax,  assuring  him  that  he 
would  then  make  a  large  fortune  and  get  a  good  living.  Mr. 
Paine,  shaking  his  head,  replied,  "  Tom  Paine  never  told  a  lie." 
We  do  not  discover  in  Mr.  Paine,  on  any  account,  even  a 
prevarication ;  such  was  his  love  of  truth,  while  he  had  too 
much  sense  to  be  the  dupe  of  the  falsehood  of  others.  The 
charge  of  drunkenness  we  can  find  no  ground  for,  unless  it 
occurred  in  France  for  a  short  period  \  and  yet  the  company 
he  there  kept  seems  to  forbid  it.  But  as  this  charge  is  so 
generally  believed  we  shall  take  the  liberty  of  naming  a  few 
persons  who  knew  him  personally  during  his  last  residence  in 
New  York,  some  of  whom  were  in  the  habit  of  meeting  him 
in  public,  and  others  in  public  and  private  societies,  his  com- 
panions for  years ;  and  of  these,  none  ever  saw  him  drunk,  and 
most  of  them  are  well  known  and  respected  for  their  veracity. 
Among  others,  are  Mr.  John  Fellows,*  Mr.  D.  Burger,f  Mr. 
Ming,  senr.,  Judge  Herttell,  Mr.  Jarvis,  Mr.  Bassinet,  Nassau 
street,  Mr.  B.  F.  Haskin,  attorney,  Chambers  street,  Mr.  H. 
Magary,  Willet  Hicks,  &c.,  <fcc.,  to  which  we  could  add  a 
number  now  dispersed  about  the  states,  as  Amasa  Woods- 
worth,  near  Boston,  and  all  the  old  inhabitants  of  New  Rochelle. 
There  exists,  too,  a  note  on  this  subject  to  Mr.  B.  Caleb 

*  Saw  him  once  elevated,  after  attending  a  dinner-party, 
t  Since  dead. 


160  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

Bringham,  bookseller,  Boston,  from  Mr.  Lovett,  now  deceased, 
but  formerly  of  the  City  hotel,  New  York,  where  Mr.  Paine 
put  up  after  his  last  return  to  this  country.  In  that  note  Mr. 
Lovett  declares  that  Mr.  Paine  drank  less  than  any  of  his 
other  boarders,  while  at  his  hotel :  and  this  accords  with  what 
Mr.  Jarvis  and  others  have  informed  us,  that  "  he  did  not,  and 
could  not,  drink  much."  Our  author,  for  the  existence  of 
his  note,  is  Mr.  John  Fellows,  a  gentleman  well  known, 
and  whose  veracity  was  never  doubted.  The  note  was  written 
to  answer  an  inquiry,  and  shown  to  Mr.  John  Fellows,  our  in- 
formant. This  subject  is  puerile  in  itself,  were  there  not  a  host 
who  sincerely  believe  Mr.  Paine  to  have  been  disgustingly  a 
drunkard  or  a  sot.  Others  of  liberal  minds,  would  at  once 
perceive  that  he  who  possessed  all  his  faculties  to  an  advanced 
age  unimpaired,  could  not  commonly  indulge  in  such  gross 
excesses ;  and  if  he  had  indulged  in  excesses  sometimes  only, 
it  was  merely  a  fault  in  the  age  which  has  passed.  But  we 
have  a  much  more  important  inference,  beside  a  desire  to 
undeceive  those  who  have  been  duped.  We  think  we  have 
given  abundant  evidence  that  Mr.  Paine  was  neither  a  sot  nor 
drunkard  j  and  we  know  of  no  contrary  evidence,  nothing  but 
hearsay,  which,  when  approached,  vanishes.  How  then  are 
we  to  regard  this  slander,  its  circulation,  its  reiteration,  the 
boldness  of  the  assailants,  and  the  variety  of  forms  it  assumed, 
from  the  pulpit,  the  press,  and  in  prints  ;  and  in  private,  from 
mouth  to  mouth,  till  his  very  friends  were  deceived,  as  we 
were,  till  we  commenced  this  investigation.  What  now  is 
the  secret  cause  of  slander,  but  the  desire  to  check  the  influ- 
ence of  an  individual  or  his  writings.  Could  the  "  Age  of 
Reason"  and  "  Rights  of  Man"  have  been  replied  to,  as  he 
replied  to  Burke,  we  should  never  have  heard  these  slanders ; 
and  kings  and  priests,  lordlings,  an  aristocracy  and  their  syco- 
phants, and  the  sincerely  pious,  but  duped  disciples  of  Jesus, 
never  would  have  formed  one  mighty  mass  to  circulate  a  petty 
slander  but  from  fear.  Some  feared  the  truth — it  would  dis- 
turb their  old  prejudices  ;  but  others  feared  reform,  because 
where  equal  rights  are  maintained,  privileges  must  be  yielded, 
and  the  leeches  on  society  must  give  up  their  hold.  But  why 
did  the  slanderers  fix  on  the  minor  vice  of  inebriety  1  It  is 


THE  SLANDERERS  OF  MR.  PAINE.  161 

clear,  by  fixing  on  so  small  a  vice  as  inebriety  for  the  subject 
of  slander,  that  there  was  no  pretence  even  for  other  vices. 
Had  he  been  unjust,  not  addicted  to  truth,  a  man  wanting 
principle,  or  possessed  of  any  public  vice,  these  would  neces- 
sarily have  been  laid  hold  of;  and  this  is  a  negative  evidence 
that  no  pretence  for  public  vice  existed.  But  how  are  we  to 
regard  his  slanderers,  the  great  body  of  whom  are  sincere,  re- 
ligious, and  feminine.  What  an  amalgamation  do  the  slanderers 
of  Paine  present.  The  young  girl  of  pious  education  vocifer- 
ating Tom  Paine,  the  filthy,  drunken,  Tom  Paine  ;  the  pious 
teacher,  perhaps  also  deceived,  but  without  examination, 
preaching  from  the  pulpit,  that  the  opponent  of  the  gospel 
scheme  lived  and  died  a  degraded,  a  drunken  being.  To 
these  are  added  the  arch  hypocrite,  who  knows  the  slander,  but, 
from  interested  motives,  joins  the  bitter  cry  of  Tom  Paine  and 
inebriety.  To  these  again  are  added  the  thousands  of  decent 
people  of  all  religions,  who,  finding  it  fashionable  to  pronounce 
the  name  of  Paine  with  a  sneer,  generously  believe  what 
everybody  says  ;  and  these  add  their  mite  of  slander,  making 
in  the  aggregate  a  mountain.  But  to  these  must  yet  be  added 
the  politician,  the  sneaking  artful  man  who  could  not  afford 
to  lose  a  vote,  and  who,  conscious  of  the  contrary,  chimes  in 
with  the  pious,  and  pronounces  Tom  Paine  and  excess  with  su- 
preme disgust,  as  an  assurance  that  the  speaker,  the  politician, 
is  neither  sot,  drunkard,  nor  infidel;  but  even  the  political 
drunkard  will  join  the  throng,  and  in  his  beer  become  ex- 
tremely pious,  and  denounce  Tom  Paine  as  drunken  and  dirty, 
being  willing  to  believe  what  he  wishes  to  be  true,  as  an 
excuse  for  himself,  and  degrading  to  the  principles  which 
Paine  manifested,  and  which  our  drunken  politician  eschews. 
This  mass  have  sought  to  overwhelm  the  name  of  Paine  by 
associating  it  with  intoxication,  for  which  there  is  not  a  par- 
ticle of  proof.  We  cannot  say  a  shadow,  for  a  shadow  there 
was,  and  this,  perhaps,  rendered  the  extension  of  the  slander 
easy.  Mr.  Paine  used,  but  did  not  abuse,  liquor.  He  had  a 
large  florid  face,  and  this,  we  believe,  favored  the  report 
among  those  who  only  knew  him  by  sight.  If  now  we  push 
back  the  slander,  on  whom  does  it  rest.  Are  the  sincere  jus- 
tified, because  of  their  sincerity,  in  propagating  slander  1  Is  it 

21 


162  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

in  accordance  with  their  religion  1  It  is  evident  it  exists,  with 
religion  most  sincere.  It  exists  with  the  ministers  of  religion 
some  of  whom  were  sincere  but  ignorant,  others,  not  sincere, 
but  interested  ;  but  the  whole  body  was  contaminated,  minister 
and  people,  by  circulating  slander.  This  then  was  the  visible 
religion  Mr.  Paine  would  have  uprooted,  while  the  political 
tyrants  and  sycophants,  who  joined  the  crusade,  from  the 
basest  motives,  and  they  have  now  their  representatives,  but 
ill  contrast  in  sentiment  and  feelings  with  the  noble  principles 
of  the  man  whose  fame  they  would  suppress.  "  THE  WORLD 
MY  COUNTRY,  TO  DO  GOOD  MY  RELIGION,"  were  the  sublime  senti- 
ments  of  this  sincere  and  able  advocate  of  human  rights, 
whose  fair  fame  has  been  thus  abused, 


Immediately~bn  the  death  of  Mr.  Paine,  Cheetham,  his  polit- 
ical enemy,  began  to  collect  materials  for  his  life,  which  was 
published  the  same  year.  We  have  already  noticed  the  manner 
in  which  he  collected  those  materials,  and  the  recklessness 
with  which  he  repeated  the  grossest  and  most  malicious  false- 
hoods, while  in  the  most  impudent  manner  he  inserted  the 
names  of  living  witnesses.  His  conviction  in  the  case  of 
Madame  Bonneville  did  something  to  undeceive  the  public  ; 
still  Mr.  Paine's  memory  suffers  from  this  malignity.  We 
had  by  us  Mr.  Carver's  copy  of  Cheetham'  s  first  edition  of  the 
"Life  of  Paine,"  including  the  matter  for  which  he  (Cheet- 
ham) was  prosecuted.  This  copy  Mr.  Carver  sold  to  Mr. 
Parkins,  ex-sheriff  of  London,  and  he,  Mr.  Parkins,  loaned  it 
to  us.  The  book  is  margined  by  notes  in  Carver's  hand- 
writing 5  a  few  of  which  we  shall  notice  or  extract,  although 
they  are  extremely  coarse. 

The  first  note  on  the  blank  leaf  after  the  preface,  charges 
Cheetham  with  villifying  Mr.  Paine,  and  also  Mr.  Palmer,  and 
plainly  calls  Mr.  Cheetham  a  hypocrite.  To  this  Carver  puts 
his  name  and  address,  36  Cedar  street.  Page  47,  Cheetham 
says,  "  l  Common  Sense'  has  no  merit"  Carver  adds,  "  One 
more  of  Cheetham's  lies."  Page  209,  Cheetham  pretends  a 
great  reverence  for  received  religious  opinions.  Carver  adds, 
"  I  believe  Cheetham  was  an  athiest,  as  he  told  me  that 
Mirabeau's  'System  of  Nature'  could  never  be  answered. 
He  was  a  hypocrite."  Page  210,  Carver  says,  "  Cheetham  fol- 


163 

lowed  Palmer  in  principles,  but  was  not  half  as  good  and  moral 
a  man."  He  adds,  "  Cheetham  was  an  abominable  liar." 
This  last  expression  is"  repeated  in  various  parts  of  the  book, 
with  some  variations,  such  as,  "  Cheetham  was  a  liar,  and,  if 
reports  are  true,  he  should  have  treated  his  wife  better."  On 
the  last  page  Carver  adds,  "  I  once  told  Cheetham  in  his  own 
house,  as  that  he  had  had  his  hands  crossed  with  British  gold." 
This  is  one  of  the  witnesses  to  whom  Cheetham  constantly 
refers ;  and  this  witness  thus  denounces  the  man  who  refers 
to  him,  in  the  plain  language  we  have  shown,  as  not  to  be 
relied  on.  Mr.  Jarvis  is  another,  and  he  too  uses  the  same 
expressions,  in  relation  to  Cheetham,  which  Carver  does. 
Could  we  then  get  access  to  the  other  living  witness  to 
whom  Cheetham  refers  for  proofs  of  Mr.  Paine's  failings,  we 
might  find  in  them  the  same  indignation  and  conviction  of 
Cheetham's  impudence  and  falsehoods.* 

The  cunning  of  Cheetham,  in  getting  up  materials  for  the 
life  of  Paine,  will  clearly  be  seen  by  again  referring  to  Joel 
Barlow's  letter  to  Cheetham  (page  135).  It  is  clear  that  Barlow 
was  deceived,  and  we  were  deceived  when  we  first  read  this  let- 
ter in  Cheetham's  life  of  Paine,  and  continued  deceived  till  we 
had  examined  the  question  of  Mr.  Paine's  habits  of  temperance 
during  the  last  years  in  New  York.  We  then  re-read  Barlow's 
letter,  and  discovered  the  cunning.  Mr.  Barlow  was  in  France 
at  the  time  of  Mr.  Paine's  death  and  knew  not  his  habits. 
Cheetham  wrote  to  him,  informed  him  of  his  object,  mentioned 
that  Paine  was  drunken  and  low  in  his  company  toward  the 
latter  years  of  his  life,  and  says  he  was  informed  that  he  was 
drunk  when  taken  to  prison  in  France.  Now  Mr.  Barlow 
does  not  contradict  Cheetham ;  he  could  not,  as  Cheetham  had 
the  better  opportunity  of  knowing  facts,  and  Mr.  Barlow  does 
not  suspect  him  of  falsehood ;  as  who  would  1  He  therefore 

*  Cheetham  sported  with  truth.  He  published  in  his  paper  an  account  of  Burr's 
duel  with  Hamilton,  in  which  he  declared  that  Burr  had  undergarments  of  silk, 
to  turn  off  the  ball  if  hit,  and  that  a  garment  of  silk  would  do  this ;  for  that  a 
Mr.  Lawrence,  then  well  known,  had  by  accident  fired  off  a  pistol,  that  the  ball 
struck  his  leg,  and  turned  off  from  the  effect  of  the  silk-stocking.  On  the 
Sunday  following  Judge  Herttell  dined  where  Cheetham  was,  when  he  related  the 
story  of  this  publication  as  a  hoax,  and  laughed  at  the  people's  credulity  ;  as  we 
are  informed  by  Mr.  Herttell. 


164  LIFE    OF    THOMAS    PAINE. 

presumes  Mr.  Cheetham  correct  in  the  statement,  and  goes  on, 
not  to  excuse  Paine,  but  to  present  his  acknowledged  good 
qualities  as  a  set-off.  Then  Cheetham  publishes  this  letter, 
and  presents,  to  a  cursory  reader,  Mr.  Joel  Barlow  as  acknowl- 
edging Mr.  Paine' s  intemperance,  and  other  infirmities,  which 
had  no  other  foundation  than  Cheetham's  declaration,  given 
to  deceive  Barlow ;  who  afterward,  as  we  have  seen,  gives 
Barlow's  letter  to  deceive  the  public.  In  the  next  place 
Cheetham  informs  Mr.  Barlow  that  he  had  heard  Mr.  Paine 
was  drunk  when  sent  to  prison,  and  boldly  gives  his  authority ; 
as  he  did  in  the  libel  case.  Here  Mr.  Barlow  happened  to  be 
qualified  to  judge,  for  Paine  came  direct  to  his  house  when  he 
was  arrested,  and  Mr.  Barlow  distinctly  disavows  the  state- 
ments ;  but  he  is  too  polite,  or  too  unsuspicious,  to  suppose 
himself  cheated ;  yet  it  is  evident  on  this  assertion  and  alleged 
evidence,  had  Mr.  Barlow  not  known  by  accident  the  contrary, 
he  too  would  have  presumed  the  fact  on  Cheetham's  state- 
ment, and,  perhaps,  would  have  endeavored  to  excuse  Mr. 
Paine  for  being  intoxicated  at  such  a  time ;  when  the  fact 
was,  he  was  not  intoxicated,  nor  is  there  any  evidence  that  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  being  intoxicated.  Of  the  referee,  Mr. 
Morris,  our  friend  Mr.  John  Fellows  thus  speaks : — 

"  I  happen  to  know  something  of  the  Mr.  Morris  mentioned 
above,  whose  testimony  Mr.  Barlow  proves  to  be  false.  It  is 
this,  that  Cheetham  collected  stories  injurious  to  the  character 
of  Paine.  Mr.  Morris  was  an  English  speculator  in  France,  in 
the  time  of  the  revolution,  and  was  once  imprisoned  as  a  spy. 
His  enmity  to  Paine  and  the  principles  for  which  France  was 
contending,  I  am  confident  (from  my  knowledge  of  the  man), 
would  induce  him  to  fabricate  any  story  calculated  to  throw 
obloquy  upon  either." 

Now  who  can  doubt  but  that  Cheetham  knew  the  qualities 
of  this  man,  whom  he  used  as  a  referee,  especially  after  we 
have  seen  the  unscrupulous  character  of  Cheetham  as  to  truth. 
But  perhaps  it  will  be  asked,  what  could  induce  Cheetham 
thus  to  lie  1  We  have  before  remarked,  that  Cheetham  had 
edited  the  leading  republican  paper  ;  but  that  he  had  become 
a  renegade,  and  was  then  in  support  of  the  English  tory  party, 
and  was  preparing  to  go  to  England,  when  he  died.  His  life 


PAINE  AND  CHEETHAM.  165 

of  Paine  he  knew  was  a  passport  to  the  English  court,  and  he 
intended  to  defend  the  Bible  and  crown  against  Gobbet,  who 
had  shortly  before  broken  his  connexion  with  the  English 
government,  and  was  then  in  successful  opposition.  Such  is 
the  evidence  we  obtained  from  a  gentleman  who  was  then 
head-clerk  to  Cheetham,  and  this  we  find  sustained  by  others. 
Besides,  Paine  had  been  very  severe  on  Cheetham  for  his 
political  change  j  and  this  would  stimulate  his  revenge.  The 
following,  published  by  Mr.  Paine  a  short  time  before  his 
death,  will  show  the  relation  Mr.  Cheetham  bore  to  Mr.  Paine 
at  that  time,  and  how  badly  qualified  such  a  man  must  be  for 
an  impartial  biographer.  Mr.  Paine  had  published  an  article 
in  the  Public  Advertiser,  on  the  defence  of  the  harbor  of  New 
York.  Cheetham  had  attacked  Paine  on  that  article,  and  Mr* 
Paine  in  his  reply  remarks : — 

"  Mr.  Cheetham  speaks  much  about  Locke,  and  says,  that 
'  all  political  elementary  writers  on  government  since  the  days 
of  Locke,  including  Mr.  Paine,  are  but  the  mere  retailers  of 
his  ideas  and  doctrines.'  This  is  John  Bullism  all  over. 

He  also  says,  that  '  on  hereditary  and  elective  government, 
Mr.  Paine,  in  his  "  Common  Sense"  and  "  Rights  of  Man," 
has  followed  Locke  idea  for  idea.'  It  may  be  so  for  what  I 
know,  for  I  never  read  Locke,  nor  ever  had  the  work  in  my 
hand,  and  by  what  I  have  heard  of  it  from  Home  Tooke,  I  had 
no  inducement  to  read  it.  It  is  a  speculative,  not  a  practical 
work,  and  the  style  of  it  is  heavy  and  tedious,  as  all  Locke's 
writings  are. 

I  suppose  Locke  has  spoken  of  hereditary  and  elective  mon- 
archy, but  the  representative,  as  laid  down  in  '  Common 
Sense'  and  '  Rights  of  Man,'  is  an  entirely  different  thing  to 
elective  monarchy.  So  far  from  taking  any  ideas  from  Locke 
or  from  anybody  else,  it  was  the  absurd  expression  of  a  mere 
John  Bull  in  England,  about  the  year  1773,  that  first  caused 
me  to  turn  my  mind  to  systems  of  government.  In  speaking 
of  the  then  king  of  Prussia,  called  the  Great  Frederick,  he 
said,  '  He  is  the  right  sort  of  man  for  a  king,  for  he  has  a  deal 
of  the  devil  in  him.'  This  set  me  to  think  if  a  system  of  gov- 
ernment could  not  exist  that  did  not  require  the  devil,  and  I 
succeeded  without  any  help  from  anybody.  It  is  a  great 
deal  that  may  be  learned  from  absurdity,  and  I  expect  to  learn 
something  from  James  Cheetham.  When  I  do,  I  will  let  him 
know  in  the  Public  Advertiser. 

In  the  conclusion  of  the  piece  of  mine,  which  Mr.  Cheetham 
has  vomited  his    spleen    upon,  I  threw  out  some   reproach 


166  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

against  those  who,  instead  of  practising  themselves  in  arms 
and  artillery,  that  they  might  be  prepared  to  defend  New 
York,  should  it  be  attacked,  were  continually  employing 
themselves  on  imaginary  fortifications,  and  skulking  behind 
projects  of  obstruction.  As  Mr.  Cheetham  supposed  himself 
included  in  this  description  (and  he  thought  right),  he  made, 
as  he  imagined,  an  effectual  retort,  but  in  doing  this,  as  in 
everything  else  he  does,  he  betrayed  his  want  of  knowledge, 
both  as  to  the  spirit  and  circumstances  of  the  times  he 
speaks  of. 

'  I  would  not,'  says  Mr.  Cheetham,  '  charge  with  cowardice 
that  gentleman  [meaning  me],  who,  in  the  "  times  that  tried 
men's  souls,"  stuck  very  correctly  to  his  pen  in  a  safe  retreat, 
and  never  handled  a  musket  offensively.' 

By  this  paragraph,  Mr.  Cheetham  must  have  supposed,  that 
when  congress  retreated  from  Philadelphia  to  Baltimore,  in 
the  '  times  that  tried  men's  souls,'  that  I  retreated  with  them 
as  secretary  to  the  committee  for  foreign  affairs. 

In  the  first  place,  the  committee  for  foreign  affairs  did  not 
exist  at  that  time. 

In  the  next  place,  I  served  in  the  army  the  whole  of  the 
1  time  that  tried  men's  souls,'  from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 

Soon  after  the  declaration  of  independence,  July  4,  1776, 
congress  recommended  that  a  body  of  ten  thousand  men,  to 
be  called  the  flying  camp,  because  it  was  to  act  wherever 
necessary,  should  be  formed  from  the  militia  and  volunteers 
of  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Maryland.  I  went  with  one 
division  from  Pennsylvania,  under  General  Roberdeau.  We 
were  stationed  at  Perth  Amboy,  and  afterward  at  Bergen  ; 
and  when  the  time  of  the  flying  camp  expired,  and  they  went 
home,  I  went  to  Fort  Lee,  and  served  as  aid-de-camp  to 
Greene,  who  commanded  at  Fort  Lee,  and  was  with  him 
through  the  whole  of  the  black  times  of  that  trying  campaign. 

I  began  the  first  number  of  the  '  Crisis,'  beginning  with  the 
well-known  expression,  '  These  are  the  times  that  try  men's 
souls',  at  Newark,  upon  the  retreat  from  Fort  Lee,  and  con- 
tinued writing  it  at  every  place  we  stopped  at,  and  had  it  printed 
at  Philadelphia  the  19th  of  December,  six  days  before  the 
taking  the  Hessians  at  Trenton,  which,  with  the  affair  at 
Princeton,  the  week  after,  put  an  end  to  the  black  times. 

It  therefore  is  not  true,  that  I  stuck  to  my  pen  in  a  safe 
retreat  with  congress  from  Philadelphia  to  Baltimore  in  the 
4  times  that  tried  men's  souls.'  But  if  I  had  done  so,  I  should 
not  have  published  the  cowardice  James  Cheetham  has  done. 
In  speaking  of  the  affair  of  the  Driver  sloop-of-war,  at  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina,  he  said  in  his  paper,  if  the  Driver  and  her 
comrades  should  take  into  their  heads  to  come  here  (New 
York),  we  must  submit.  What  abominable  cowardice,  for  a 
man  to  have  such  a  thought  in  his  mind,  that  a  city  containing 


PAINE'S  REPRIMAND  OF  CHEETHAM.  167 

twenty  thousand  able-bodied  men,  numbers  of  them  as  stout 
in  person  as  himself,  should  submit  to  a  sloop-of-war  containing 
about  a  hundred  and  fifty  men. 

After  this,  Mr.  Cheetham  will  take  care  how  he  attacks  old 
revolutionary  characters,  whose  undiscouraged  intrepidity,  in 
the  '  times  that  tried  men's  souls,'  made  a  home  for  him  to 
come  to. 

THOMAS  PAINE. 

NEW  YORK,  Aug.  21,  1807." 

"  REPRIMAND  TO  JAMES  CHEETHAM. 

If  James  Cheetham,  editor  of  the  l  New  York  American 
Citizen,'  thinks  to  draw  me  into  a  controversy  with  him,  he 
is  greatly  mistaken.  In  the  first  place,  I  hold  him  too  cheap  j 
and  his  well-known  character  for  abuse  and  blackguarding, 
renders  any  altercation  with  him  dishonorable  ;  and  beside 
this,  it  would  take  up  too  much  of  my  time  to  put  his  blunders 
to-rights.  He  cannot  write  without  blundering,  neither  can 
he  write  truth,  of  which  I  will  give  another  instance. 

He  quotes  the  following  paragraph  from  the  first  part  of 
'  Rights  of  Man,'  and  then  grounds  a  false  assertion  upon  it : — 
1  Every  age  and  generation  must  be  as  free  to  act  for  itself^ 
in  all  cases,  as  the  ages  and  generations  that  preceded  it.  The 
vanity  and  presumption  of  governing  beyond  the  grave,  is  the 
most  ridiculous  and  insolent  of  all  tyrannies.  Man  has  no 
property  in  man,  neither  has  one  generation  a  property  in  the 
generation  that  is  to  follow.' 

Mr.  Cheetham  having  made  this  short  quotation  says :  '  Mr. 
Paine  here  and  there  glances  at  the  absurdity  of  hereditary 
government,  but  the  passage  just  quoted  is  the  only  attempt 
at  argument  against  it  contained  in  the  "  Rights  of  Man." ' 

Is  James  Cheetham  an  idiot,  or  has  the  envy  and  malignity 
of  his  mind  possessed  him  with  a  spirit  of  wilful  lying  \ 

The  short  passage  he  has  quoted  (which  is  taken  from  the 
middle  of  a  paragraph)  is  on  the  third,  and  in  some  editions 
on  the  fourth  page  of  the  first  part  of  '  Rights  of  Man.'  It 
contains  a  general  principle,  on  which  the  arguments  and 
statements  against  hereditary  succession  are  founded  in  the 
progress  of  that  work. 

If  Mr.  Cheetham  had  looked  farther  into  the  work,  '  Rights 
of  Man,'  he  would  have  come  to  a  paragraph  ending  with  the 
expression,  l  hereditary  succession  cannot  be  established  as  a 
legal  thing?  The  work  then  goes  on  to  say  : — 

'  In  order  to  arrive  at  a  more  perfect  decision  on  this  head 
(that  is,  that  hereditary  succession  cannot  be  established  as  a 
legal  thing),  it  is  proper  to  consider  the  generation  which 
undertakes  to  establish  a  family  with  hereditary  powers,  apart 
and  separate  from  the  generations  which  are  to  follow,  and 


168  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

also  to  consider  the  character  in  which  the  generation  acts 
with  respect  to  succeeding  generations. 

'  The  generation  which  selects  a  person  and  puts  him  at  the 
head  of  its  government  with  the  title  of  king,  or  any  other 
distinction,  acts  its  own  choice,  be  it  wise  or  foolish,  as  a  free 
agent  for  itself.  The  person  so  set  up  is  not  hereditary,  but 
selected  and  appointed,  and  the  generation  which  sets  him  up 
do  not  live  under  an  hereditary  government,  but  under  a  gov- 
ernment of  its  own  choice  and  establishment.  Were  the 
generation  which  set  him  up,  and  the  person  so  set  up,  to  live 
for  ever,  it  never  could  become  hereditary  succession  ;  and,  of 
consequence,  hereditary  succession  can  only  take  place  on  the 
death  of  the  first  parties. 

As,  therefore,  hereditary  succession  is  out  of  the  question 
with  respect  to  the  first  generation,  we  have  now  to  consider 
the  character  in  which  that  generation  acts  with  respect  to  the 
commencing  generation,  and  to  all  succeeding  ones. 

It  assumes  a  character  to  which  it  has  neither  right  nor 
title.  It  changes  itself  from  a  legislator  to  a  testator,  and  af- 
fects to  make  its  will,  which  is  to  have  operation  after  the 
demise  of  the  makers,  to  bequeath  the  government ;  and  it  not 
only  attempts  to  bequeath,  but  to  establish  over  the  succeeding 
generation  a  new  and  different  form  of  government  from  that 
under  which  itself  lived.  Itself,  as  already  observed,  lived  not 
under  an  hereditary  government,  but  under  a  government  of  its 
own  choice  and  establishment,  and  it  now  attempts,  by  virtue 
of  a  will  and  testament,  which  it  has  no  authority  to  make,  to 
take  from  the  commencing  generation,  and  all  succeeding  ones, 
the  right  and  free  agency  by  which  itself  acted.' 

Now,  without  giving  any  farther  extracts  from  the  work, 
'  Rights  of  Man,'  on  the  subject  of  hereditary  succession,  what 
is  here  given  ought  to  cover  James  Cheetham  with  shame  for 
the  falsehood  he  has  advanced.  But  as  a  man  who  has  no  sense 
of  honor  has  no  sense  of  shame,  Mr.  Cheetham  will  be  able 
to  read  this  with  an  unblushing  front. 

Several  writers  before  Locke  had  remarked  on  the  absurdity 
of  hereditary  succession,  but  there  they  stopped.  Buchanan, 
a  Scots  historian,  who  lived  more  than  a  hundred  years  before 
Locke,  reproaches  Malcolm  II.,  king  of  Scotland,  and  his 
father,  Kenethus,  for  making  the  crown  of  Scotland  hereditary 
in  his  family,  '  by  which  means,'  says  Buchanan,  '  the  kingdom 
must  frequently  be  possessed  by  a  child  or  a  fool ;  whereas 
before,  the  Scots  used  to  make  choice  of  that  prince  of  the 
royal  family  that  was  best  qualified  to  govern  and  protect  his 
people.' 

But  I  know  of  no  author,  nor  of  any  work,  before  '  Common 
Sense'  and  '  Rights  of  Man'  appeared,  that  has  attacked  and 
exposed  hereditary  succession  on  the  ground  of  illegality, 
which  is  the  strongest  of  all  grounds  to  attack  it  upon  j  for  if 


PAINE  AND  CHEETHAM.  169 

the  right  to  set  it  up  do  not  exist — and  that  it  does  not  is  certain, 
because  it  is  establishing  a  form  of  government,  not  for  them- 
selves, but  for  a  future  race  of  people — all  discussion  upon  the 
subject  ends  at  once.  But  James  Cheetham  has  not  sense 
enough  to  see  this. 

He  has  got  something  into  his  head  about  Locke,  and  he 
keeps  it  there,  for  he  does  not  give  a  single  quotation  from  him 
to  support  the  random  assertion  he  makes  concerning  Locke. 

'  It  is  to  Locke  in  particular,'  says  Cheetham,  '  who  wrote 
his  incomparable  essay  on  government  in  1689,  that  we  are 
almost  wholly  indebted  for  those  political  lights  which  con- 
ducted us  to  our  revolution.' 

This  is  both  libellous  and  false.  The  revolutionary  contest 
began  in  opposition  to  the  assumed  rights  of  the  British  par- 
liament '  to  bind  Jlmerica  in  all  cases  whatsoever,1  and  there 
can  be  nothing  in  Locke,  who  wrote  in  1689,  that  can  have 
reference  to  such  a  case.  The  tax  upon  tea,  which  brought 
on  hostilities,  was  an  experiment  on  the  part  of  the  British 
government  to  enforce  the  practice  of  that  assumed  right, 
which  was  called  the  declaratory  act.  James  Cheetham  talks 
of  times  and  circumstances  he  knows  nothing  of,  for  he  did 
not  come  here  till  several  years  after  the  war  ;  yet  in  speaking 
of  the  revolution,  he  uses  the  words  we,  and  us,  and  our  revo- 
lution. It  is  common  in  England,  in  ridiculing  self-conceited 
importance,  to  say,  '  What  a  long  tail  our  cat  has  got !' 

The  people  of  America,  in  conducting  their  revolution, 
learned  nothing  from  Locke  ;  nor  was  his  name,  or  his  work, 
ever  mentioned  during  the  revolution,  that  I  know  of.  The 
case  America  was  in  was  a  new  one,  without  any  former  ex- 
ample, and  the  people  had  to  find  their  way  as  well  as  they 
could  by  the  lights  that  arose  among  themselves,  of  which  I 
can  honestly  and  proudly  say,  I  did  my  part.  Locke  was 
employed  by  the  first  settlers  of  South  Carolina  to  draw  up  a 
form  of  government  for  that  province,  but  it  was  such  an 
inconsistent  aristocratical  thing,  that  it  was  rejected.  Perhaps 
Mr.  Cheetham  does  not  know  of  this,  but  he  may  know  it  if  he 
will  inquire. 

Mr.  Cheetham  hypocritically  says,  '  I  advise  Mr.  Paine,  as  a 
friend,  to  write  no  more.' 

In  return  for  this  civility  in  words,  I  will  inform  him  of 
something  for  his  good,  which  is,  that  he  has  been  going  down 
hill  in  the  opinion  of  the  republicans  for  a  long  time  past. 
Good  principles  will  defend  themselves ;  but  the  abuse  and 
scurrility  in  Cheetham's  paper  have  given  very  general  offence 
to  his  subscribers.  Another  complaint  is,  that  his  paper  is 
not  a  newspaper.  It  does  not  give  the  news  from  Europe  till 
it  becomes  old  in  every  other  paper.  There  are,  perhaps,  two 
causes  for  this :  as  a  John  Bull,  he  does  not  like  the  news 

22 


170  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

from  Europe  ;  and  as  a  dabbler  in  scribbling,  he  prefers  filling 
his  paper  with  his  own  stuff. 

It  is  probable  he  will  be  called  upon  to  explain  on  what 
ground  of  compromise  (for  it  has  the  appearance  of  a  com- 
promise)the  intimacy  between  him  and  the  Anglo-Irish  emissary 
Cullen,  alias  Carpenter,  began  and  continued.  He  is  now 
giving  symptoms  of  becoming  a  successor  of  Cullen,  as  Cullen 
was  the  successor  of  Cobbett.  As  there  is  now  a  well-con- 
ducted republican  paper  established  in  New  York  (the  Public 
Advertiser),  Mr.  Cheetham  cannot  have  the  same  range  for 
his  scurrility  he  had  before. 

THOMAS  PAINE. 

September  5, 1807." 

"  CHEETHAM  AND  HIS  TORY  PAPER.* 

Cheetham  is  frequently  giving  symptoms  of  being  the  suc- 
cessor of  Cullen,  alias  Carpenter,  as  Cullen  was  the  successor 
of  Cobbett,  alias  Porcupine.  Like  him,  he  is  seeking  to  involve 
the  United  States  in  a  quarrel  with  France  for  the  benefit 
of  England. 

In  his  paper  of  Tuesday,  September  22,  he  has  a  long 
abusive  piece  against  France,  under  the  title  of  "  Remarks" 
on  the  speech  of  the  arch-chancellor  of  France  to  the  French 
senate.  This  is  a  matter  that  Cheetham,  as  an  adopted 
American  citizen,  has  no  business  with  ;  and  as  a  John  Bull  it 
is  impertinence  in  him  to  come  here  to  spit  out  his  venom 
against  France.  But  Cheetham  cannot  live  without  quarreling, 
nor  write  without  abuse.  He  is  a  disgrace  to  the  republicans, 
whose  principle  is  to  live  in  peace  and  friendship  with  all  na- 
tions, and  not  to  interfere  in  the  domestic  concerns  of  any. 

Cheetham  seems  to  regret  that  peace  is  made  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  and  he  shows  his  spleen  against  it  by  the 
following  roundabout  scurrilous  paragraph. 

'The  people  of  France,'  says  he,  '  now  breathe  the  air  of 
peace,  under  slavery,  closer,  more  systematic,  military,  and 
universal  [Cheetham  knows  nothing  about  it],  than  that  with 
which  they  were  overwhelmed  previous  to  the  beginning  of 
the  long  continued  calamity.'  This  is  spoken  exactly  in  the 
character  of  a  stupid  prejudiced  John  Bull,  who,  shut  up  in 
his  island,  and  ignorant  of  the  world,  suppose  all  nations 
slaves  but  themselves  ;  whereas,  those  at  a  distance  can  see, 
that  of  all  people  enslaved  by  their  own  governments,  none 
are  so  much  so  as  the  people  of  England.  Had  Cheetham 
stayed  in  England  till  this  time,  he  would  have  had  to  shoulder 
a  musket,  and  this  would  have  been  dreadful  to  him,  for,  as  all 

*  This  piece  was  the  cause  of  a  duel  between  Cheetham  and  Frank. 


PAINE  AND  CHEETHAM.  171 

Bullies  are  cowards,  the  smell  of  gunpowder  would  be  as  horrid 
to  Cheetham,  as  the  scent  of  a  skunk  to  other  animals. 

The  danger  to  which  the  city  of  New  York  was  exposed, 
by  the  continual  abuse  of  France  in  such  papers  as  Cullen's, 
was,  that  the  French  government  might  be  induced  to  consider 
the  city  of  New  York  as  a  British  colony,  such  as  it  was  during 
the  revolutionary  war,  and  exclude  her  from  the  commerce  of 
the  continent  of  Europe,  as  she  has  excluded  Britain.  Cheet- 
ham is  following  the  footsteps  of  Cullen. 

The  French  nation,  under  all  its  changes  of  government,  has 
always  behaved  in  a  civil  and  friendly  manner  to  the  United 
States.  We  have  no  cause  of  dispute  with  France.  It  was 
by  the  aid  of  France  in  men,  money,  and  ships,*  that  the  revolu- 
tion and  independence  of  the  United  States  were  so  completely 
established,  and  it  is  scarcely  sufferable  that  a  prejudiced  and 
surly-tempered  John  Bull  should  fix  himself  among  us  to  abuse 
a  friendly  power. 

September  25,  1807." 

"  NOTE  TO  CHEETHAM. 

MR.  CHEETHAM  :  Unless  you  make  a  public  apology  for  the 
abuse  and  falsehood  in  your  paper  of  Tuesday,  October  27, 
respecting  me,  I  will  prosecute  you  for  lying. 

It  is  by  your  talent  for  abuse  and  falsehood,  that  you  have 
brought  so  many  prosecutions  on  your  back.  You  cannot  even 
state  truth  without  running  it  to  falsehood.  There  was  matter 
enough  against  Morgan  Lewis  without  going  a  syllable  beyond 
the  truth. 

THOMAS  PAINE. 

October  27,  1807." 

"  TO  THE  CITIZENS  OF  NEW  YORK. 

In  a  letter  from  the  president  of  the  United  States,  of  Oc- 
tober 9,  after  his  mentioning  that  he  did  not  expect  the  Revenge 
back  under  a  month  from  that  date,  adds,  '  In  the  meantime, 
all  the  little  circumstances  coming  to  our  knowledge  are  un- 
favorable to  our  wishes  for  peace.'' 

As  this  might  be  useful  information  to  men  in  mercantile 
pursuits  and  speculations,  and  who  had  no  guide  to  go  by, 
whether  to  send  out  their  vessels,  or  not,  I  mentioned  it  to 
such  of  my  republican  friends  as  called  to  see  me ;  and  that 
the  information,  if  so  useful,  might  not  be  confined  to  one 
distinction  of  men  only,  I  mentioned  it  also  to  Mr.  Coleman, 
of  the  Evening  Post,  who  came  to  me  on  account  of  a  piece  I 

*  Six  thousand  French  troops  under  General  Rochambeau,  and  thirty-one  sail- 
t)f-the-line  under  Admiral  de  Grasse,  assisted  at  the  capture  of  Cornwallis  at 
Yorktown,  Virginia,  which  put  an  end  to  the  war. 


172  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

sent  to  him  concerning  Cheetham's  insulting  message  to  Mr. 
Frank,  of  the  Public  Advertiser.  How  it  got  into  the  news- 
papers I  know  not ;  Mr.  Coleman,  I  suppose,  can  give  the  best 
account  of  that. 

Cheetham  then  published  a  most  abusive  piece  in  his  paper, 
and  in  his  vulgar  style  of  language  said,  "  Paine  has  told  a  lie" 
and  then  insinuated  as  if  I  had  forged  the  letter.  It  is  by  his 
propensity  to  blackguarding  and  lying,  that  he  has  brought  so 
many  prosecutions  on  his  back.  He  says  he  has  nine.  He 
will  now  have  one  more.  If  an  unprincipled  bully  cannot  be 
reformed,  he  can  be  punished. 

THOMAS  PAINE, 

November  20, 1807." 

"  THE  EMISSARY  CHEETHAM. 

Cheetham  can  now  be  considered  in  no  other  light  than  a 
British  emissary,  or  successor  to  the  impostor  Cullen,  alias 
Carpenter,  whom  Cheetham  handed  out  in  his  newspaper,  as  a 
gentlemanly  sort  of  a  man.  Cheetham  finding  the  republicans 
are  casting  him  off,  is  holding  out  signs  to  be  employed  as  a 
British  partisan. 

Cheetham,  in  his  papers  of  December  29  and  30,  has  two 
long  pieces  about  the  embargo,  which  he  labors  to  prove  is 
not  laid  on  inconsequence  of  any  dispute  with  England,  but  in 
consequence  of  some  imperious  demands  on  the  part  of  France. 
This  John  Bull  is  an  idiot  in  diplomatic  affairs. 

Cheetham  says,  '  Mr.  Monroe's  despatches,  which  were  laid 
before  congress,  and  which  congress  concluded  did  not  au~ 
thorize  an  embargo,  are  dated  London,  October  10th.  In  the 
opinion  of  congress,'  continues  Cheetham,  4  and  I  venture  to 
say  of  Mr.  Monroe,  an  immediate  war  with  England  was  there- 
fore by  no  means  probable.5 

Cheetham  has  been  so  long  in  the  habit  of  giving  false  in- 
formation, that  truth  is  to  him  like  a  foreign  language. 

The  president  laid  the  despatches  of  Mr.  Monroe,  of  October 
10th,  before  congress  ;  but  as  they  were  in  daily  expectation 
of  later  information  by  the  arrival  of  the  Revenge  schooner, 
and  also  of  the  personal  arrival  of  Mr.  Monroe,  congress  re- 
ceived it  as  preparatory  information,  but  came  to  no  con- 
clusion on  their  contents. 

Cheetham  says,  that  the  Leopard,  which  brought  Mr.  Mon- 
roe's despatches,  of  October  10th,  sailed  from  London  on  the 
16th  of  October,  and  that  the  Revenge  sailed  from  London  for 
Cherbourg,  on  the  same  day,  at  which  time,  says  Cheetham, 
there  was  no  probability  of  an  immediate  war  with  England. 

In  a  letter  I  received  from  London,  dated  October  15th,  and 
which  I  published  in  the  Philadelphia  Aurora,  and  in  the  New 
York  Public  Advertiser,  the  writer,  in  speaking  of  the  British 
ministry,  says,  '  Their  cup  of  iniquity  is  nearly  full,  they  only 


PAINE  AND  CHEETHAM-  173 

want  to  go  to  war  with  America  to  fill  it  up ;  and  it  is  the 
opinion  here  [London]  that  that  measure  is  resolved  on.  They 
will  make  no  concessions  unless  it  be  to  deceive.'  The  letter 
is  dated  one  day  before  the  Revenge  sailed  from  London,  and 
I  suppose  came  by  the  Revenge  j  yet  Cheetham  tells  his 
readers  there  was  then  no  probability  of  a  war  with  America. 
Cheetham's  information  is  never  entitled  to  credit. 

When  the  Revenge  sailed  with  the  president's  proclamation, 
and  the  instructions  to  Mr.  Monroe,  the  writer  of  this  knows 
she  was  ordered  to  come  from  London  to  France.  It  was  ex- 
pected she  would  be  detained  in  the  two  countries  about  a 
month,  and  be  back  here  about  the  16th  of  November. 

Her  coming  from  London  to  France,  would  give  Mr.  Monroe 
the  opportunity  (for  foreign  ministers  do  not  correspond  by 
post,  but  by  express)  of  communicating  to  Mr.  Armstrong,  at 
Paris,  the  plans  and  projects  of  the  British  ministry. 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  Revenge  at  Cherbourg,  a  French 
port  on  the  channel,  General  Armstrong  sent  circular  letters 
to  the  American  consuls  in  France,  to  hasten  the  departure  of 
the  American  vessels  as  fast  as  possible.  Several  paragraphs 
in  the  English  newspapers,  and  which  have  been  copied  into 
the  American  papers,  stated,  that  the  British  ministry  intended 
to  seize  American  vessels  coming  to,  or  going  from,  any  port 
in  France.  As  Mr.  Monroe  would  get  knowledge  of  this, 
as  well  as  the  writer  of  the  letter  to  Thomas  Paine,  of  October 
15th,  he  would  communicate  it  to  General  Armstrong  at 
Paris;  and  this  accounts  for  General  Armstrong's  circular 
letter,  after  the  arrival  of  the  Revenge  schooner  from  London. 

If  Britain  put  her  threat  in  force,  that  of  taking  American 
vessels  going  to  or  coming  from  France,  it  is  probable  the 
French  government  will  retaliate,  and  take  American  vessels 
going  to  or  coming  from  England  ;  and  this  resolution  on  the 
part  of  France,  had  a  natural  tendency  to  prevent  American 
vessels  being  taken,  because  Britain,  by  setting  the  example, 
will  suffer  more  by  it  than  France. 

The  British  blockading  decree,  that  of  seizing  neutral  ves- 
sels going  to  or  from  France,  was  to  have  been  published  on 
the  14th  of  November,  but  the  news  from  London  of  the  14th 
by  the  Jane,  is  silent  on  the  subject.  The  apprehension  of 
retaliation  has,  most  probably,  stopped  the  British  ministry  in 
their  career. 

Jan.  7,  1808." 

In  another  letter,  dated  August  25,  1808  (and  Mr.  Paine 
died,  as  we  have  seen,  in  1809),  he  thus  expresses  himself  of 
Cheetham,  that  "  in  religion  he  was  a  hypocrite,  and  in 
politics  a  John  Bull,"  said  in  reference  to  Cheetham's  abuse 
of  Bonaparte  and  the  French.  Mr.  Paine  adds  in  the  same 


174?  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

letter :  "  The  ward  meetings  have  done  exceedingly  right 
in  posting  Cheetham.  The  people  in  the  country  and  abroad 
will  now  know  that  he  does  not  belong  to  the  popular  repub- 
lican party,  and  that  he  is  an  English  impostor." 

Whether  these  letters  derive  some  asperity  from  party  pol- 
tics  or  not,  is  a  matter  of  no  consequence  to  our  subject. 
The  statement  of  facts  is  no  doubt  correct,  and  the  feelings 
of  Cheetham  toward  Paine  must  be  anything  but  friendly. 
When,  therefore,  a  party  hack,   as  Cheetham  doubtless  was, 
disappointed  and  a  renegade,  with  talents,  as  he  certainly  pos- 
sessed, but  embittered  in  feelings  and  regardless  of  truth,  as 
all  circumstances  contribute  to  show,  what  could  be  expected 
from  such  a  man,  but  just  what  he  produced — a  life  of  Paine 
abounding  in  bold  falsehoods,  cunningly  contrived,   and  ad- 
dressed to  a  people  who  wished  to  be  deceived  1  The  com- 
pliment paid  Cheetham  by  Judge  Hoffman,  in  extenuation  of 
heavy  damages,  when  convicted  by  the  clearest  evidence  of 
gross  slander  in  the  case  of  Madame  Bonneville,  viz,  that 
"  he  had  produced  a  work  useful   to  religion,"  explains  the 
position  of  Cheetham,  his  life  of  Paine,  and  the  public.     The 
politicians  succumbed  to  the  religious  part  of  the  community, 
and  both  sacrificed  the  fame  of  Paine  to  their  supposed  inter- 
est.   The  religious  because  they  thought  they  cftd  God  service, 
and  hypocrites  and  politicians  because  they  imagined  an  injury 
from  the  association  of  the  name  of  Paine  with  theirs.     Indi- 
viduals did  lift  up  their  voices  in  defence  of  the  memory  of 
Paine,  but  as  these  had  neither  the  press  nor  public  sympathy, 
nor  public   opinion,  nor  fashion,  on  their  side,  their  voices 
were  not  heard,  and  falsehood  triumphed  for  a  time  ;  not, 
however,  without  witnesses,  whose  testimony  was  recorded 
from  time  to  time,  which  might  be  accumulated  and  presented 
at  a  proper  season,  a  time  to  which  Joel  Barlow  looked  forward. 
That  time  we  believe  has  now  arrived,  and  Judge  Hoffman, 
were  he  now  alive,  dare  not  repeat  his  infamous  sentiment, 
that    "  Cheetham    had  written  a  book   useful  to   religion." 
The  very  sentiment  is  now  scoffed  by  the  religious  people  of 
the  age,  who  are  so  far  advanced  in  civilization  as  to  scorn  a 
religion  that  needs  falsehood  for  its  support.     In  the  history 
of  nations  there  are  periods  of  fanaticism,  but  a  steady  prog* 


MARY  HINSDALE'S  FALSEHOODS.  175 

less  in  liberality.  Cromwell's  time  was  a  period  of  fanati- 
cism, succeeded  indeed  by  licentiousness ;  and  after  the 
French  revolution  a  re-action  took  place,  and  fanaticism  pre- 
vailed, first  in  England,  and  then  on  this  side  the  Atlantic ; 
and  in  the  darkness  of  which  Cheetham  slipped  in  his  life  of 
Paine.  But  we  yet  believe  that  justice  will  be  done  to  the 
memory  of  the  man  who  caused  the  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence, showed  how  it  could  be  maintained,  and  was  the 
light  of  the  republic  in  the  "times  which  tried  men's  souls," 
(Paine).  And  we  farther  believe  that  this  age  is  sufficiently 
intelligent  to  investigate  the  merits  of  one  of  the  men  of  the 
revolution,  and  sufficiently  honest  to  do  his  memory  justice. 
The  second  part  of  Mr.  Paine's  prophecy  was  not  suffered 
to  want  fulfilment.  In  vain  did  his  friends  witness  the  sin- 
cerity of  his  belief,  his  firmness  and  calmness  at  the  last 
moment ;  in  vain  did  Dr.  Manley  try  to  extort  from  him  a 
recantation,  and  in  vain  did  clerical  gentlemen  assail  him 
when  infirm  in  body.  In  vain  did  Mr.  Jarvis,  Colonel  Daniel 
Pelton,  and  our  living  friend  Mr.  Haskins,  and  the  respected 
Willet  Hicks,  receive  his  last  declaration  in  presence  of 
death;  in  vain  was  all  this.  A  few  zealous  pious  hypocrites 
had  determined  on  a  conversion,  or  on  a  conviction  and  re- 
morse, and  therefore  a  woman  was  made  a  tool  of  to  propa- 
gate such  charges  ;  and  one  Charles  Collins,  now  alive,  was 
found  base  enough  to  publish  her  foolish  tales,  not  avowed 
till  some  years  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Paine ;  such  a  circum- 
stance however  is  easily  jiimped  over,  when  that  is  revealed 
which  is  wanted.  This  subject  has  however  been  treated  on 
in  the  preface  to  the  Boston  edition  of  Mr.  Paine's  theologi- 
cal works,  written  by  our  friend  Mr.  John  Fellows,  now  alive, 
and  frequently  alluded  to  in  this  work,  from  which  we  shall 
therefore  extract,  as  we  have  examined  into  it,  and,  with  one 
exception,  are  satisfied  with  the  correctness  of  the  statement. 

"I  cannot  relinquish  this  subject  without  taking  notice  of 
one  of  the  most  vile  and  wicked  stories  that  was  ever  engen- 
dered in  the  fruitful  imagination  of  depraved  mortals.  It  was 
fabricated  by  a  woman,  named  Mary  Hinsdale,  and  published 
by  one  Charles  Collins,  at  New  York,  or  rather,  it  is  probable 
that  this  work  was  the  joint  production  of  Collins,  and  some 


]76  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

other  fanatics,  and   that  they  induced  this  stupid,   ignorant 
woman  to  stand  sponsor  for  it. 

It  states,  in  substance,  that  Thomas  Paine,  in  his  last  ill- 
ness, was  in  the  most  pitiable  condition  for  want  of  the  mere 
necessaries  of  life  ;  and  that  the  neighbors,  out  of  sheer  com- 
passion, contributed  their  aid  to  supply  him  with  sustenance  : 
that  he  had  become  converted  to  Christianity,  and  lamented 
that  all  his  religious  works  had  not  been  burnt :  that  Mrs. 
Bonneville  was  in  the  utmost  distress  for  having  abandoned 
her  religion,  as  she  (M.  H.)  said,  for  that  of  Mr.  Paine,  which 
he  now  told  her  would  not  answer  the  purpose,  &c.     In  all 
this  rodomontade  there  is  not  a  single,  solitary  ray  of  truth  to 
give  it  a  colorable  pretext.     It  is  humiliating  to  be  under  the 
necessity  of  exposing  such  contemptible  nonsense.     Collins, 
if  he  was  not  the  author,  was  assured  of  its  falsity.    But  being 
full  of  the  spirit  of  fanaticism  and  intolerance,  and  believing, 
no  doubt,  that  the  end  sanctified  the  means,  he  continued  to 
circulate  the  pious  fraud,  and  the  clergy  exultingly  retailed  it 
from  the  pulpit.  Nothing  but  religious  phrensy  could  have  in- 
duced Collins,  after  being  warned  of  the  crime  he  was  com- 
mitting, to  persist  in  publishing  this  abominable  trash.*    He  had 
the  hardihood  even  to  apply  to  William  Cobbett  for  the  purpose 
of  inducing  him  to  insert  it  in  the  life  of  Thomas  Paine,  which 
Mr.  Cobbett  then  contemplated  to  write.     For  which  he  re- 
ceived due  chastisement  from  the  pen  of  that  distinguished 
writer,  in  a  number  of  his  Register.     Mr.  Cobbett   subse- 
quently having  taken  great  pains  to  investigate  the  falsity  of 
this  story,  exposed  and  refuted  it  in  the  most  ample  manner. 
This  I  have  not  seen,  nor  is  the  Register,  containing  the  article 
alluded  to,  before  me.     Mrs.  Bonneville  was  absent  in  France 
at  the  time  of  its  first  appearance  in  New  York,  and  when 
shown  to  her  on  her  return  to  America,  although  her  feelings 
were  highly  agitated  at  the  baseness  of  the  fabrication,  she 
would  not  permit  her  name  to  appear  in  print  in  competition 
with  that  of  Mary  Hinsdale.  No  notice,  therefore,  has  been  taken 
of  it,  excepting  by  Mr.  Cobbett.     Indeed,  it  was  considered  by 
the  friends  of  Mr.  Paine  generally  to  be  too  contemptible  to 
controvert.     But  as  many  pious  people  continue  to  believe, 
or  pretend  to   believe  in  this    stupid   story,  it  was   thought 
proper  to  say  a  few  words  upon  it  in  this  publication. 

The  facts  are  as  follow :  Mary  Hinsdale  was  hired  at  service 
in  the  family  of  Mr.  Willet  Hicks,  residing  at  Greenwich 

*  Since  writing  the  above,  it  has  been,  suggested  to  me,  by  a  gentleman  who 
knows  him,  that  this  base  act  of  Collins  is  attributable  more  to  his  actual  stupid- 
ity than  to  either  his  fanaticism  or  malice.  That  he  is  too  weak  to  be  aware  of 
the  sin  of  slander  ;  and  has  no  doubt,  in  this  case,  been  made  use  of,  as  a  mere 
puppet,  by  others  behind  the  scene,  more  knowing  and  more  wicked  than  him- 
self. If  this  be  the  fact,  it  is  charity  to  state  it  to  the  public,  as  his  case  will  tend 
to  excite  pity,  and  depreciate,  in  some  measure*  the  enormity  of  his  guilt  in  this 
transaction. 


STATEMENT  OF  NIXON  AND  FELTON.  177 

village,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Mr.  Paine,  who  occasionally 
sent  some  little  delicacies  to  him  in  the  time  of  his  sickness, 
as  every  good  neighbor  would  do  ;  and  this  woman  was  the 
bearer.  Here  is  the  whole  foundation  upon  which  the  dis- 
torted imagination  of  Mary  Hinsdale,  or  some  one  for  her,  has 
raised  this  diabolical  fiction.  Mr.  Hicks  was  in  the  habit  ot 
seeing  Mr.  Paine  frequently,  and  must  have  known  if  such  a 
wonderful  revolution  had  taken  place  in  his  mind,  as  is  stated, 
and  he  does  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  the  whole  account  is  a 
pious  fraud.  Mr.  Hicks  is  a  respectable  merchant  at  New 
York,  and  any  one  there,  who  has  any  doubts  on  the  subject, 
by  calling  on  him  will  be  satisfied.  Even  James  Cheetham, 
the  libeller  of  Mr.  Paine,  acknowledges  that  he  died  in  the  re- 
ligious faith  which  he  had  inculcated  in  his  writings.  Which 
is  also  attested  by  his  physician,  Dr.  Manley,  and  all  those 
who  visited  him  in  his  last  illness.  But  to  put  this  matter 
beyond  all  cavil,  I  shall  add  the  certificate  of  two  old  and 
highly  respectable  citizens,  Thomas  Nixon  of  New  York,  and 
Captain  Daniel  Pelton  of  New  Rochelle.  It  was  addressed  to 
William  Cobbett,  under  an  expectation  that  he  was  about  to 
write  the  life  of  Thomas  Paine,  and  left  with  a  friend  to  be 
handed  to  him ;  but  as  the  undertaking  was  relinquished,  it 
was  never  delivered,  and  is  now  in  my  possession,  in  the  hand- 
writing of  the  signers ;  and  is  as  follows  : — 

TO  MR.  WILLIAM  COBBETT. 

SIR  :  Having  been  informed  that  you  have  a  design  to  write 
a  history  of  the  life  and  writings  of  Thomas  Paine,  if  you 
have  been  furnished  with  materials  in  respect  to  his  religious 
opinions,  or  rather  of  his  recantation  of  his  former  opinions 
before  his  death,  all  you  have  heard  of  his  recanting  is  false. 
Being  aware  that  such  reports  would  be  raised  after  his  death 
by  fanatics  which  infested  his  house  at  the  time  it  was  ex- 
pected he  would  die,  we,  the  subscribers,  intimate  acquaint- 
ances of  Thomas  Paine,  since  the  year  1776,  went  to  his 
house — he  was  sitting  up  in  a  chair,  and  apparently  in  the  full 
vigor  and  use  of  all  his  mental  faculties.  We  interrogated 
him  on  his  religious  opinions,  and  if  he  had  changed  his  mind 
or  repented  of  anything  he  had  said  or  wrote  on  that  subject. 
He  answered,  *  not  at  all,'  and  appeared  rather  offended  at  our 
supposition  that  any  change  should  take  place  in  his  mind. 
We  took  down  in  writing  the  questions  put  to  him,  and  his 
answers  thereto,  before  a  number  of  persons  then  in  his  room, 
among  whom  were  his  doctor,  Mrs.  Bonneville,  &c.  This 
paper  is  mislaid  and  cannot  be  found  at  present,  but,  the  above 
is  the  substance,  which  can  be  attested  by -many  living  wit- 
nesses. THOMAS  NIXON. 

DANIEL  FELTON. 

NEW  YORK  April  24,  1818." 


178  LIFE    OF    THOMAS   PAINE. 

We  had  resolved  on  so  much  of  the  manuscript  before  we 
saw  Mr.  Willet  Hicks,  before  mentioned  ;  and  if  it  were  not 
a  rule  in  evide?ice  to  obtain  the  best,  in  the  most  direct  manner, 
we  should  not  have  sought  an  interview,  for  we  had  supposed 
that  those  who  had  gone  before  us  had  obtained  all  that  was 
desirable  from  that  gentleman ;  but,  to  our  surprise,  on  seeing 
Mr.  Hicks,  as  a  duty  which  we  owed  the  public,  we  learned 
that  Mary  Hinsdale  never  saw  Paine  to  Mr.  Hicks's  knowledge  ; 
that  the  fact  of  his  sending  some  delicacy  from  his  table  as  a 
compliment  occurred  but  a  very  few  times,  and  that  he  always 
commissioned  his  daughters  on  this  errand  of  kindness,  and 
he  designated  Mrs.  Cheeseman,  then  a  little  girl,  but  now  the 
wife  of  one  of  our  celebrated  physicians,  as  the  daughter 
especially  engaged,  and  that  she  states  that  Mary  Hinsdale 
once  wished  to  go  with  her,  but  was  refused.  So  that  on  the 
testimony  of  Mr.  Willet  Hicks,  the  whole  story  of  confession 
of  Paine  to  such  a  woman,  remorse,  wretchedness,  despair, 
and  conversion,  rests  on  Mary  Hinsdale  once  wishing  to  go 
with  Mr.  Hicks's  daughter  to  Mr.  Paine's.  The  secret  of  such 
a  fabrication  on  such  a  foundation  is  easily  explained.  On 
farther  conversation  with  Mr.  Hicks,  he  informed  us,  that 
when  it  was  known  that  he  visited  Mr.  Paine  daily,  many,  of 
the  FRIENDS  (to  which  sect  he  belonged,  and  of  which  he  was 
a  preacher),  thought  he  would  make  some  religious  impres- 
sion on  Mr.  Paine,  and  that  after  his  death  he  was  extremely 
annoyed  at  numbers  of  them  pressing  him  to  say  something 
detrimental  of  Paine,  or  that  he  was  converted.  The  old 
gentleman  remarked  to  us :  "  You  can  have  no  idea  of  the 
anxiety  of  our  people  on  this  subject  j  I  was  beset  by  them,  both 
here  and  in  England,  where  I  soon  after  went  on  a  journey." 
He  remarked,  they  wished  to  convict  Mr.  Paine  of  calling  on 
Jesus  ;  they  would  say,  he  observed,  "  Didst  thee  never  hear 
hear  him  call  on  Christ  1"  On  reference  to  our  notes,  which 
we  took  for  accuracy,  we  find,  Mr.  Hicks  even  declared :  "  You 
cannot  conceive  what  a  deal  of  trouble  I  had,  and  as  for  money, 
I  could  have  had  any  sums  if  I  would  have  said  anything 
against  Thomas  Paine,  or  if  I  would  even  have  consented  to 
remain  silent.  They  informed  me  that  the  doctor  was  willing 
to  say  something  that  would  satisfy  them  if  I  would  engage  to 


179 

be  silent  only;  but,"  remarked  Mr.  Hicks  to  us,  "  they  observed, 
he  (the  doctor)  knows  the  standing  of  Willet  Hicks,  and 
that  he  knew  all  about  Paine,  and  if  he  (Mr.  Hicks)  should 
contradict  what  I  say,  he  would  destroy  my  testimony." 
Such  is  the  simple  testimony  recently  obtained  of  this  gentle- 
man, who  is  yet  alive,  and  was,  when  we  saw  him,  at  the  resi 
dence  of  his  son-in-law,  Dr.  Cheeseman.  Mr.  Hicks,  in  con- 
clusion, remarked  of  Mr.  Paine,  that  "  he  was  a  good  man,  an 
honest  man,"  and  with  great  indignation  he  remarked,  "  he 
was  not  a  man  to  talk  with  Mary  Hinsdale."  Here  then  is  the 
KEY  to  Mary  Hinsdale's  fabrication  ;  the  intense  feeling  of  a 
portion  of  the  friends  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Paine's  works. 
We  say  a  portion  ;  for,  though  Mr.  Hicks  uses  the  expression, 
"  he  was  beset  with  them,  both  here  and  in  England,"  a  por- 
tion could  beset  him.  Mr.  Hicks  was  himself  a  friend,  a  pious 
friend,  and  a  preacher,  and  an  honorable  man  of  high  stand- 
ing, and  such  as  he  was  and  is,  such  we  have  no  doubt  were 
and  are  many.  Besides,  we  can  readily  conceive  that  this 
intense  feeling  was  chiefly  among  the  more  orthodox,  as  some 
of  these  in  every  sect  have  always  felt  the  most.  From  the 
multitude  who  raised  the  cry  of  Tom  Paine,  we  need  not  mi- 
nutely examine  the  question  as  to  numbers  in  this  portion  of 
the  FRIENDS  ;  we  can  readily  believe  there  would  be  enough  to 
effect  the  object.  If,  too,  Mr.  Hicks,  who  was  rich,  could 
have  had  any  sum,  as  he  expresses  himself,  then  Mary  Hins- 
dale could  have  had  any  sum  for  her  invention.  We  do  not 
know  that  she  did ;  but  we  can  readily  believe  that  she  would 
not  want  a  Charles  Collins,  or  any  one  else,  to  assist  her  in 
getting  out  such  a  work ;  and  that  those  who  wished  to  be- 
lieve would  not  be  at  much  trouble  to  inquire  after  the  credi- 
bility of  the  evidence.  Will  our  readers  now  turn  to  page  156, 
where  we  have  inserted  Mr.  Amasa  Woodsworth's  testimony, 
and  observe  in  what  language  he  speaks  of  Dr.  Manley,  yet 
alive,  and  enjoying  a  post  of  honor.  Now  we  do  not  know 
that  Mr.  Hicks  referred  to  Dr.  Manley,  when  he  says  that  the 
friends  informed  him  the  doctor  was  willing- to  say  something, 
he  might  have  meant  some  other  doctor  j  we  merely  give  his 
words  as  he  gave  them  to  us.  But  there  is  a  curious  coinci- 
dence in  these  two  witnesses,  both  respectable,  but  who  have 


180  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

moved  in  very  different  spheres,  and  who,  perhaps,  have  nei 
seen  each  other  since  the  death  of  Paine.  Their  evidence 
was  taken,  the  one  near  Boston,  two  years  ago,  the  other  two 
months  ago,  in  New  York,  and  they  both  infer  a  disposition  to 
cheat  the  public  by  those  who  were  professionally  about  Mr. 
Paine  on  his  death-bed.  Dr.  Manley  has  published  a  letter, 
and  has  thus  thrown  himself  on  the  public,  and  we  have  a 
right  to  examine  that  letter.  He  there,  indeed,  gives  you  the 
last  words  of  Paine,  "  I  have  no  wish  to  believe  on  that  sub- 
ject." But  what  would  he  have  said  had  Willet  Hicks 
consented  to  silence,  and  if  Amasa  Woodsworth  had  not  been 
present.  We  again  remark  that  we  do  not  know  that  Mr. 
Hicks  referred  to  Dr.  Manley,  but  we  do  know  that  Dr.  Man- 
ley  published  a  pamphlet,  in  which  he  endeavors  to  insinuate, 
that  in  spite  of  Mr.  Paine's  declaration,  that  he  did  conceal  his 
real  sentiments  j  and  this  he  infers  from  looks  and  exclama- 
tions which  he  alone  saw  and  heard.  And  now  let  us  remind 
our  readers  that  Amasa  Woodsworth  says,  he  was  always 
there  with  Dr.  Manley ;  yet  Amasa  Woodsworth  saw  none  of 
these  expression,  and  heard  no  exclamations  indicating  mental 
agony,  but  such  expressions  as  resulted  from  bodily  pain,  and 
that  from  a  cause  explicitly  given,  viz,  "  the  skin  in  some 
parts  being  removed  from  long  lying."  The  judge,  Hoffman, 
who  tried  Cheetham  on  the  libel  against  Madame  Bonneville, 
complimented  Mr.  Cheetham  for  writing  a  very  useful  book  in 
favor  of  religion,  although  it  did  contain  falsehoods  and  libel ; 
and  in  the  same  way  the  doctor  may  think  his  published  letter 
may  be  useful  to  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  he  no  doubt  did, 
and  perhaps  does  think  so  ;  and  no  doubt  some  persons  will 
regret  that  Mr.  Willet  Hicks  stood  in  the  way  of  some  more 
dignified  person  than  Mary  Hinsdale,  belying  Mr.  Paine  on  his 
death-bed.  The  whole,  however,  is  explained  by  the  "  intense 
feelings  of  a  portion  of  the  FRIENDS,  who  could  beset  Mr.  Hicks 
in  the  manner  they  did,  '  Didst  thee  never  hear  him  call  on 
Christ  V  "  or  who  could  intimate  a  wish  that  he  would  say 
that  Paine  recanted,  or,  at  least,  that  he  would  promise  silence, 
while  others  should  testify  falsely  ;  and  who  could  intimate 
reward  for  such  perfidy.  "  As  for  money  I  could  have  had 
any  sum,"  is  the  language  of  Mr.  Hicks  toward  the  portion 


COBBETT'S  STATEMENT.  181 

of  "FRIENDS"  that  beset  him.  Now  if  this  feeling  could  exist 
among  the  FRIENDS,  carried  out  as  we  have  seen  it  in  the  case 
of  Mary  Hinsdale,  to  what  extent  must  it  have  existed  in  other 
classes,  more  superstitious,  less  educated,  less  accustomed  to 
truth  and  more  to  passion,  as  the  devoutly  pious  among  every 
class,  who  believe  their  feelings  the  effects  of  divine  influ- 
ence) and  who  are  consequently  easily  misled  hy  these  feel 
ings.  And  when  we  consider  that  all  this  pious  feeling  was 
backed  by  an  interested  class  of  clergy,  and  by  corrupt  poli- 
ticians, who  wished  the  votes  of  the  pious,  can  we  be  surprised 
at  the  calumny  under  which  he  has  lain,  and  that  even  his 
friends  should  have  been  deceived  on  some  points,  from  the 
incessant  clamor  and  apparent  universality  of  the  accusations. 
We  shall  now  furnish  Mr.  W.  Cobbett's  account  of  this 
transaction  of  Mr.  Collins  and  Mary  Hinsdale,  on  which,  per- 
haps, we  have  throWh  some  light  :-— 

"  CURIOUS  HISTORY  OF  A  CALUMNY  ON  PAINE. 

It  is  a  part  of  the  business  of  a  press,  sold  to  the  cause  of 
corruption,  to  calumniate  those,  dead  or  alive,  who  have  most 
effectually  labored  against  that  cause ;  and,  as  Paine  was  the 
most  powerful  and  effectual  of  those  laborers,  so  to  calumni- 
ate him  has  been  an  object  of  their  peculiar  attention  and  care. 
Among  other  things  said  against  this  famous  man,  is,  that  he 
recanted  before  he  died  ;  and  that  in  his  last  illness,  he  discov- 
ered horrible  fears  of  death.  This  is,  to  be  sure,  a  very  good 
answer  to  what  these  same  persons  say  about  his  hardened  in- 
fidelity. But,  it  is  a  pure,  unadulterated  falsehood.  This 
falsehood,  which  I  shall  presently  trace  to  its  origin  (the  heart 
of  a  profound  hypocrite),  was  cried  about  the  streets  of  Liver- 
r  pool,  when  I  landed  there  in  November  last.  Thence  it  found 
its  way  to  the  grand  receptacle  and  distributor  of  falsehood 
and  calumny,  the  London  press,  which  has  sent  it  all  over  this 
kingdom.  One  country  paper,  however,  pre-eminent  in  all 
that  is  foul  and  mean,  affects  to  possess  original  matter  and 
authentic  information  on  the  subject ;  and,  indeed,  it  pledges 
itself  for  the  character  of  the  gentleman  from  whom  it  says  it 
has  received  the  pretended  authentic  account.  The  country 
paper  I  allude  to,  is  the  Norwich  Mercury,  printed  and  pub- 
lished by  one  Burks* 

The  Norwich  Mercury  did  not  imagine  that  any  one  would 
take  the  pains  to  expose  this  tissue  of  falsehoods.  In  the  first 
place,  why  does  he  not  name  his  '  gentleman1  of  such  excel- 
lent character  \  How  these  informers  skulk  !  Mr.  Burks  can 


182  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 

pledge  himself  for  the  character  of  the  "  gentleman"  informer ; 
but,  where  are  we  to  get  a  pledge  for  the  character  of  Mr. 
Burks,  who,  if  we  are  to  judge  from  this  act  of  his,  stands  in 
need  of  very  good  sponsors. 

Let  us  look,  a  little,  at  the  internal  evidence  of  the  falsehood 
of  this  story.  Mr.  Paine  possessed,  at  his  death,  an  unen- 
cumbered estate  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land,  not 
more  than  twenty  miles  from  New  York.  He  possessed  a  con- 
siderable sum  beside.  These  he  left  by  will.  Will  any  one 
believe,  that  he  was,  on  his  dying-bed,  in  the  want  of  proper 
nourishment,  and  that  he  was  in  a  deplorable  state  as  to  apart- 
ments and  necessaries  1  Then,  was  it  likely,  that  Vhen  a 
neighbor's  maid-servant  went  to  carry  him  a  little  present  of 
sweetmeats,  or  the  like,  that  he  would  begin  a  conversation  on 
theology  with  her  ?  And  is  it  not  monstrous  to  suppose,  that 
he  would  call  himself  the  devil's  agent  to  HER,  and  not  leave 
behind  him  any  recantation  at  all,  though  he  had  such  ample 
time  for  doing  it,  and  though  this  confidant  was  so  ready  to 
receive  it  and  to  take  care  of  it  1  The  story  is  false  upon  the 
face  of  it :  and  nothing  but  a  simpleton,  or  something  a  great 
deal  worse,  would  have  given  it  circulation  and  affected  to 
believe  it  to  be  true. 

I  happen  to  know  the  origin  of  this  story :  and  I  possess 
the  real,  original  document,  whence  have  proceeded  the  divers 
editions  of  the  falsehood,  of  the  very  invention  of  which  I  was, 
perhaps,  myself,  the  innocent  cause  ! 

About  two  years  ago,  I,  being  then  on  Long  Island,  published 
my  intention  of  writing  an  account  of  the  life,  labors,  and 
death  of  Paine.  Soon  after  this,  a  quaker  at  New  York,  named 
Charles  Collins,  made  many  applications  for  an  interview  with 
me,  which  at  last  he  obtained.  I  found  that  his  object  was  to 
persuade  me  that  Paine  had  recanted.  I  laughed  at  him,  and 
sent  him  away.  But  he  returned  again  and  again  to  the 
charge.  He  wanted  me  to  promise  that  I  would  say  that  '  it 
was  said,"1  that  Paine  had  recanted.  '  No/  said  I ;  *  but  I  will 
say  that  you  say  it,  and  that  you  tell  a  lie,  unless  yon  prove* 
the  truth  of  what  you  say  ;  and  if  you  do  that,  I  shall  gladly 
insert  the  fact.'  This  posed '  friend  Charley,'  whom  I  suspected 
to  be  a  most  consummate  hypocrite.  He  had  a  sodden  face, 
a  simper,  and  manoeuvred  his  features,  precisely  like  the  most 
perfidious  wretch  that  I  have  known,  or  ever  read  or  heard  of. 
He  was  precisely  the  reverse  of  my  honest,  open,  and  sincere 
quaker  friends,  the  Pauls  of  Pennsylvania.  Friend  Charley 
plied  me  with  remonstrances  and  reasonings,  but  I  always  an- 
swered him.  '  Give  me  proof;  name  persons  ;  state  times; 
state  precise  words,  or  I  denounce  you  as  a  '  liar.1  Thus  put 
to  his  trumps,  friend  Charley  resorted  to  the  aid  of  a  person 
of  his  own  stamp  ;  and,  at  last,  he  brought  me  a  paper,  con- 
taining matter,  of  which  the  above  statement  of  Mr.  Burks  is 


COBBETT'S  STATEMENT.  183 

a  garbled  edition !  This  paper,  very  cautiously  and  craftily 
drawn  up,  contained  only  the  initials  of  names.  This  would 
not  do.  I  made  him,  at  last,  put  down  the  full  name  and  the 
address  of  the  informer,  'Mary  Hinsdale,  No.  10  Anthony  street, 
New  York.'  I  got  this  from  friend  Charley  some  time  about 
June  last ;  and  had  no  opportunity  of  visiting  the  party  till 
late  in  October,  just  before  I  sailed. 

The  informer  was  a  quaker  woman,  who,  at  the  time  of  Mr. 
Paine's  last  illness,  was  a  servant  in  the  family  of  Mr.  "Willet 
Hicks,  an  eminent  merchant,  a  man  of  excellent  character,  a 
quaker,  and  even,  I  believe,  a  quaker  preacher.  Mr.  Hicks,  a 
kind  and  liberal  and  rich  man,  visited  Mr.  Paine  in  his  illness, 
and,  from  his  house,  which  was  near  that  of  Mr.  Paine,  little 
nice  things  (as  is  the  practice  in  America)  were  sometimes 
sent  to  him  ;  of  which  this  servant,  friend  Mary,  was  the 
bearer  ;  and  this  was  the  way  in  which  the  lying  cant  got  into 
the  room  of  Mr.  Paine. 

To  'friend  Mary,'  therefore,  I  went  on  the  twenty- sixth  of 
October  last,  with  friend  Charley's  paper  in  my  pocket.  I 
found  her  in  a  lodging  in  a  back-room  up  one  pair  of  stairs. 
I  knew  that  I  had  no  common  cunning  to  set  my  wit  against. 
I  began  with  all  the  art  that  I  was  master  of.  I  had  got  a  pro- 
digiously broad-brimmed  hat  on.  I  patted  a  little  child  that 
she  had  sitting  beside  her;  I  called  her  friend  ;  and  played 
all  the  awkward  tricks  of  an  undisciplined  wheedler.  But  I 
was  compelled  to  come  quickly  to  business.  She  asked, 
4  What's  thy  name,  friend  V  and  the  moment  I  said  William 
Cobbett,  up  went  her  mouth  as  tight  as  a  purse !  Sack-making 
appeared  to  be  her  occupation  ;  and  that  I  might  not  extract 
through  her  eyes  that  which  she  was  resolved  I  should  not  get 
out  of  her  mouth,  she  went  and  took  up  a  sack  and  began  to 
sew ;  and  not  another  look  or  glance  could  I  get  from  her. 

However,  I  took  out  my  paper,  read  it,  and  stopping  at  sev- 
eral points,  asked  her  if  it  was  true.  Talk  of  the  Jesuits,  in- 
deed !  The  whole  tribe  of  Loyola,  who  had  shaken  so  many 
kingdoms  to  their  base,  never  possessed  a  millionth  part  of 
the  cunning  of  this  drab-colored  little  woman,  whose  face 
simplicity  and  innocence  seemed  to  have  chosen  as  the  place 
of  their  triumph  !  She  shuffled;  she  evaded  ;  she  equivocated  ; 
she  warded  off;  she  affected  not  to  understand  me,  not  to 
understand  the  paper,  not  to  remember  :  and  all  this  with  so 
much  seeming  simplicity  and  single-heartedness,  and  in  a  voice 
so  mild,  so  soft,  and  so  sweet,  that  if  the  devil  had  been  sitting 
where  I  was,  he  would  certainly  have  jumped  up  and  hugged 
her  to  his  bosom. 

The  result  was :  that  it  was  so  long  ago,  that  she  could  not 
speak  positively  to  any  part  of  the  matter  :  that  she  would  not 
say  that  any  part  of  the  paper  was  true :  that  she  had  never 
seen  the  paper  ;  and  that  she  had  never  given  c  friend  Charley' 


184 

(for  so  she  called  him)  authority  to  say  anything  about  the 
matter  in  her  name.  I  pushed  her  closely  upon  the  subject  of 
the  '  unhappy  French  female?  Asked  her  whether  she  should 
know  her  again. — '  Oh,  no  !  friend  ;  I  tell  thee  that  I  have  no 
recollection  of  any  person  or  thing  that  I  saw  at  Thomas 
Paine's  house.'  The  truth  is,  that  the  cunning  little  thing 
knew  that  the  French  lady  was  at  hand ;  and  that  detection 
was  easy,  if  she  had  said  that  she  should  know  her  upon 
sight ! 

I  had  now  nothing  to  do  but  to  bring  friend  Charley's  nose 
to  the  grindstone.  But  Charley,  who  is  a  grocer,  living  in 
Cherry  street,  near  Pearl  street,  though  so  pious  a  man,  and 
doubtless  in  great  haste  to  get  to  everlasting  bliss,  had  moved 
ovt  of  the  city  for  fear  of the  fever ,  not  liking,  apparently,  to  go 
off  to  the  next  world  in  a  yellow  skin.  And  thus  he  escaped 
me,  who  sailed  from  New  York  in  four  days  afterward :  or 
Charley  should  have  found,  that  there  was  something  else  on 
this  side  the  grave,  pretty  nearly  as  troublesome  and  as  dread- 
ful as  the  yellow  fever. 

This  is,  I  think,  a  pretty  good  instance  of  the  length  to 
which  hypocrisy  will  go.  The  whole,  as  far  as  relates  to  re- 
cantation, and  to  the  '•unhappy  French  female?  is  a  lie  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end.  Mr.  Paine  declares  in  his  last  will,  that 
he  retains  all  his  publicly  expressed  opinions  as  to  religion. 
His  executors,  and  many  other  gentlemen  of  undoubted 
veracity,  had  the  same  declaration  from  his  dying  lips.  Mr. 
Willet  Hicks  visited  him  till  nearly  the  last.  This  gentleman 
says,  that  there  was  no  change  of  opinion  intimated  to  him  : 
and  will  any  man  believe  that  Paine  would  have  withheld  from 
Mr.  Hicks,  that  which  he  was  so  forward  to  communicate  to 
Mr.  Hicks'  servant-girl  ? 

Observe,  reader,  that  in  this  tissue  of  falsehoods,  is  included 
a  most  foul  and  venomous  slander  on  a  woman  of  virtue  and 
of  spotless  honor.  But  hypocrites  will  stick  at  nothing. 
Calumny  is  their  weapon,  and  a  base  press  is  the  hand  to  wield 
it.  Mr.  Bourke,  of  Norwich,  will  not  insert  this  article,  nor 
will  he  acknowledge  his  error.  He  knows  that  the  calumny 
which  he  has  circulated,  has  done  what  he  intended  it  to  do  ; 
and  he  and  the  '  gentleman1  for  whose  character  he  pledges 
himself,  will  wholly  disregard  good  men's  contempt,  so  long 
as  it  does  not  diminish  their  gains. 

This  is  not  at  all  a  question  of  religion.  It  is  a  question  of 
moral  truth.  Whether  Mr.  Paine's  opinions  were  correct  or 
erroneous,  has  nothing  to  do  with  this  matter. 

WILLIAM  COBBETT. 

We  have  not  yet  done  with  this  subject.  By  a  curious 
coincidence  we  have  become  acquainted  with  a  Mr.  J.  W. 


MARY  HUDSON  AND  C.  COLLINS.  185 

Lockwood,  of  New  York.  This  gentleman  had  a  sister,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  FRIENDS,  who  died  about  two-and-twenty  years  ago. 
On  her  death,  Mary  Hinsdale,  who  was  known  to  the  family, 
stated  to  them  that  she  should  come  to  the  funeral,  for  that 
she  had  met  Mary  Lockwood  a  short  time  before  her  death ; 
and  that  she  (Mary  Lockwood)  had  said  to  her  :  "  Mary[  Hins- 
dale], I  do  not  expect  to  live  long ;  my  views  are  changed  ;  I 
wish  thee  to  come  to  my  funeral,  and  make  this  declaration  to 
my  friends  then  assembled,"  and  that  consequently  she  should 
come.  The  relatives  of  the  deceased,  who  were  Hicksite* 
quakers,  or  friends,  knew  the  falseness  of  this  statement. 
Those  who  had  sat  by  her  bed-side,  and  heard  her  continued 
and  last  declarations  on  religious  subjects  (for  she  was  em- 
phatically a  religious  young  woman),  knew  that  no  change 
had  taken  place.  Her  brother,  our  informant,  had  heard  her 
express  her  opinions  with  great  satisfaction.  He  and  her  other 
relatives  therefore  said  so  to  Mary  Hinsdale,  but  invited  her 
to  attend  the  funeral.  Mary  Hinsdale  did  not  attend.  The 
falsehood  was  notorious  and  occasioned  a  good  deal  of  loud 
conversation ;  and  this  Mr.  Lockwood  supposes  deterred  this 
orthodox  friend  from  appearing  among  them. 

We  recently  published  the  above  account  in  the  Beacon, 
and  referred  to  Mr.  Cobbett's  account,  which  we  had  formerly 
published.  On  this  publication  Mr.  Collins,  frequently  named 
above,  called  on  us,  not  to  complain  of  our  remarks,  but  to 
assure  us  that  his  conscience  could  not  suffer  the  Beacon  to  be 
left  at  his  house,  to  be  forwarded  to  a  friend  in  the  West 
Indies,  as  formerly.  To  this  we  made  no  objection  j  but  find- 
ing Mr.  C.  Collins  in  our  house,  and  knowing  the  importance 
of  his  testimony,  we  at  once  asked  him  what  induced  him  to 
publish  the  account  of  Mary  Hinsdale.  He  assured  us  he 
then  thought  it  true.  He  believed  that  she  had  seen  Mr. 
Paine,  and  that  Mr.  Paine  might  confess  to  her,  a  girl,  when 
he  would  not  to  Willet  Hicks.  He  knew  that  many  of  their 
most  respected  friends  did  not  believe  the  account.  He 
knew  that  Mr.  W.  Hicks  did  not,  whom  he  highly  respected ;  but 

*  Followers  of  Elias  Hicks,  not.  orthodox,  or  believers  in  the  common  scheme 
of  salvation  by  the  atonement. 

24- 


186      -  LIFE  OF  THMAS  PAINE. 

yet  he  thought  it  might  be  true.  We  asked  Mr.  C.  Collins 
what  he  thought  of  the  character  of  Mary  Hinsdale  now  1  He 
replied,  that  some  of  our  friends  believe  she  indulges  in  opi- 
ates, and  do  not  give  her  credit  for  truth.  We  asked,  and  do 
believe  they  are  justified  in  their  opinions  1  He  replied,  "0 
yes,  I  believe  they  speak  the  truth"  (Mr.  Lockwood  had  given 
us  the  same  opinion),  but  C.,  added  "  This  does  not  affect  her 
testimony  when  a  young  woman  ;  she  might  then  have  spoken 
the  truth."  Such  is  the  testimony  of  Charles  Collins,  in  relation 
to  Mary  Hinsdale,  whom  he  assisted  in  publishing  her  fabrica- 
tion of  Mr.  Paine's  death-bed  scenes,  based  on  her  wish  to  see 
Mr.  Paine,  and  which  fabrication  has  been  echoed  from  pulpit  to 
pulpit,  and  from  press  to  press,  in  this  country  and  England, 
and  sanctioned  by  thousands  of  pious  people  who  wished  the 
account  true. 

There  is  one  more  subject  to  which  our  attention  has  been 
drawn,  and  to  which  Cheetham  refers,  Mr.  Paine's  alleged  in- 
gratitude to  Mr.  Monroe.  We  have  seen  in  the  body  of  this 
work  that  Mr.  Monroe  took  upon  himself  to  declare  Mr.  Paine 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  to  presume  that  Washing- 
ton, then  president,  must  feel  an  interest  in  him.  It  is  evident 
that  Mr.  Monroe  did  all  he  could  in  the  absence  of  direct  in- 
structions from  his  government  about  Mr.  Paine,  which  he 
does  not  appear  to  have  possessed.  And  we  have  seen, 
when  Mr.  Paine  finally  left  the  prison,  that  he  went  by  invita- 
tion to  Mr.  Monroe's  house,  and  that  he  remained  there  above 
a  year.  We  hear  nothing  of  any  engagement,  and  we  cannot 
conceive  that  Mr.  Monroe,as  plenipotentiary  at  Paris,would  take 
boarders,  or  that  Mr.  Paine  would  stay  at  his  house  uninvited, 
or  one  moment  beyond  an  apparent  welcome.  Mr.  Paine's 
company  before,  and  at  this  time,  was  sought  by  many  as  an 
honor.  He  afterward  resided  with  Mr.  Bonneville,  either 
with  or  without  an  engagement  for  board  ;  but  in  that  case 
we  know,  when  Bonneville  was  ruined  by  Bonaparte,  for  pub- 
lishing a  republican  paper,  that  Mr.  Paine,  finding  on  his 
return  here  the  means  of  hospitality,  generously  invited  the 
whole  family  to  share  his  comforts.  We  cannot,  therefore, 
perceive  in  Mr.  Paine  a  natural  ingratitude.  Cheetham  states, 
and  others  have  repeated  it,  that  Mr.  Monroe  afterward  be- 


MR.  MONROE.  187 

came  poor,  and  applied  to  Mr.  Paine,  whom  he  said  was  then 
rich,  to  pay  for  his  board,  while  residing  with  the  consul  at 
Paris,  and  that  Mr.  Paine  took  no  notice  of  the  demand,  and 
was  therefore  ungrateful.  If  this  really  occurred,  and  we 
think  it  likely,  all  we  can  say  is  that  Mr.  Monroe  at  this  period 
must  have  become  penurious.  He  was  at  that  time  looking 
forward  to  the  presidency,  which  he  afterward  obtained  ;  and 
if,  while  in  this  situation,  he  made  a  demand  as  a  hoarding- 
house  keeper,  while  acting  as  consul  in  France,  and  that  to  a 
distinguished  individual  whom  he  had  invited  to  his  house, 
and  with  whom  he  had  made  no  such  engagement,  for  none  is 
even  pretended,  he  must  have  forgotten  the  dignity  of  an  Amer- 
ican consul  in  France,  as  well  as  a  presumptive  successor  to  the 
presidency.  We  are  perfectly  aware  that  men,  when  they  be- 
come old,  frequently  become  parsimonious  j  Mr.  Paine  did,  in 
part  j  and  that  others,  who  are  both  just  and  generous,  on  partic- 
ular occasions,  are  constitutionally  parsimonious.  This  was  the 
case  with  Franklin.  We  have  therefore  made  some  inquiry  as 
to  Mr.  Monroe,  and  we  find  that  he  was  not  unmindful  of  his 
interest.  While  acting  as  minister  at  Paris,  Mr.  Jefferson,  then 
president,  gave  him  a  commission  to  transact  some  business  in  a 
neighboring  country,  intending  an  appropriation  to  Mr.  Monroe 
for  this  service,  but  to  save  to  the  country  the  outfit  of  an 
especial  minister  or  consul,  which  we  believe  is  about  nine 
thousand  dollars.  This  outfit  Mr.  Monroe,  we  find,  afterward 
claimed  and  recovered,  and  hence  we  think  it  possible  that 
he  might  have  made  the  charge  upon  Mr.  Paine  before  stated ; 
but  unless  Mr.  Paine  had  agreed  to  such  a  charge,  which  does 
not  appear  from  Mr.  Monroe's  alleged  letter,  we  think  the 
affair  rather  to  the  discredit  of  the  latter  than  to  Mr.  Paine  ; 
and  if  Mr.  Paine  treated  the  subject  in  the  manner  alleged,  he 
probably  considered  as  we  do,  that  the  demand  never  ought 
to  have  been  made. 

We  shall  now  conclude  with  the  will  of  Mr.  Paine.  This 
falsifies  at  once,  one  part  of  Mary  Hinsdale's  relation,  viz, 
Mr.  Paine's  poverty ;  and  one  part  being  shown  to  be  false  we 
can  have  no  belief  in  the  rest,  which  depends  on  the  same 
authority.  The  fact  is,  she  is  now  living,  and  is  known  as  a 
silly  lying  woman,  disgraced  in  the  eyes  of  some  of  her  former 
religious  connexions  for  this  very  crime. 


188  LIFE  OF  THOMAS  RAINE. 


THE  WILL  OF  MR.  THOMAS  PAINE. 

"  The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  Free 
and  Independent,  to  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come  or 
may  concern,  Send  Greeting : 

Know  ye,  That  the  annexed  is  a  true  copy  of  the  will  of 
THOMAS  PAINE,  deceased,  as  recorded  in  the  office  of  our  sur- 
rogate, in  and  for  the  city  and  county  of  New  York.  In  tes- 
timony whereof,  we  have  caused  the  seal  of  office  of  our  said 
surrogate  to  be  hereunto  affixed.  Witness,  Silvanus  Miller, 
Esq.,  surrogate  of  said  county,  at  the  city  of  New  York,  the 
twelfth  day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  nine,  and  of  our  Independence  the  thirty-fourth. 

SILVANUS  MILLER. 

The  last  will  and  testament  of  me,  the  subscriber,  THOMAS 
PAINE,  reposing  confidence  in  my  Creator  God,  and  in  no 
other  being,  for  I  know  of  no  other,  nor  believe  in  any  other, 
I  Thomas  Paine,  of  the  state  of  New  York,  author  of  the  work 
entitled  '  Common  Sense,'  written  in  Philadelphia,  in  1775, 
and  published  in  that  city  the  beginning  of  January,  1776, 
which  awaked  America  to  a  Declaration  of  Independence, 
on  the  fourth  of  July  following,  which  was  as  fast  as  the  work 
could  spread  through  such  an  extensive  country ;  author  also 
of  the  several  numbers  of  the  '  American  Crisis'  '  thirteen  in 
all,'  published  occasionally  during  the  progress  of  the  revolu- 
tionary war — the  last  is  on  the  peace ;  author  also  of  the 
*  Rights  of  Man,'  parts  the  first  and  second,  written  and  pub- 
lished in  London,  in  1791  and  '92  ;  author  also  of  a  work  on 
religion,  '  Age  of  Reason,'  parts  the  first  and  second.  '  N.  B. 
I  have  a  third  part  by  me  in  manuscript  and  an  answer  to  the 
Bishop  of  Landaff;'  author  also  of  a  work,  lately  published, 
entitled  '  Examination  of  the  passages  in  the  New  Testament 
quoted  from  the  Old,  and  called  prophesies  concerning  Jesus 
Christ,'  and  showing  there  are  no  prophecies  of  any  such  per- 
son ;  author  also  of  several  other  works  not  here  enumerated, 
'  Dissertations  on  the  first  Principles  of  Government,' — '  De- 
cline and  Fall  of  the  English  System  of  Finance' — '  Agrarian 
Justice,'  &c.,  &c.,  make  this  my  last  will  and  testament,  that 
is  to  say :  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  executors  hereinafter 
appointed,  Walter  Morton  and  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  thirty 
shares  I  hold  in  the  New  York  Phoenix  Insurance  Company, 
which  cost  me  1470  dollars,  they  are  worth  now  upward  of 
1500  dollars,  and  all  my  moveable  effects,  and  also  the  money 
that  may  be  in  my  trunk  or  elsewhere  at  the  time  of  my 
decease,  paying  thereout  the  expenses  of  my  funeral,  in  trust 
as  to  the  said°  shares,  moveables,  and  money,  for  Margaret 


WILL  OF  MR.  PAINE.  189 

Brazier  Bonneville,  wife  of  Nicholas  Bonneville,  of  Paris,  for 
her  own  sole  and  separate  use,  and  at  her  own  disposal,  not- 
withstanding her  coverture.  As  to  my  farm  in  New  Rochelle, 
I  give,  devise,  and  bequeath  the  same  to  my  said  executors, 
Walter  Morton  and  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  and  to  the  survivor 
of  them,  his  heirs  and  assigns  for  ever,  in  trust,  nevertheless, 
to  sell  and  dispose  of  the  north  side  thereof,  now  in  the  occu- 
pation of  Andrew  A.  Dean,  beginning  at  the  west  end  of  the 

orchard  and  running  in  a  line  with  the  land  sold  to Coles, 

to  the  end  of  the  farm,  and  to  apply  the  money  arising  from 
such  sale  as  hereinafter  directed.  I  give  to  my  friends  Walter 
Morton,  of  the  New  York  Phoenix  Insurance  company,  and 
Thomas  Addis  Emrnet,  counsellor-at-law,  late  of  Ireland,  two 
hundred  dollars  each,  and  one  hundred  dollars  to  Mrs.  Palmer, 
widow  of  Elihu  Palmer,  late  of  New  York,  to  be  paid  out  of 
the  money  arising  from  said  sale,  and  I  give  the  remainder  of 
the  money  arising  from  that  sale,  one  half  thereof  to  Clio 
Rickman,  of  High  or  Upper  Mary-la-bone  street,  London,  and 
the  other  half  to  Nicholas  Bonneville,  of  Paris,  husband  of 
Margaret  B.  Bonneville  aforesaid:  and  as  to  the  south  part  of 
the  said  farm,  containing  upward  of  one  hundred  acres,, in 
trust,  to  rent  out  the  same  or  otherwise  put  it  to  profit,  as 
shall  be  found  most  advisable,  and  to  pay  the  rents  and 
profits  thereof  to  the  said  Margaret  B.  Bonneville,  in  trust  for 
her  children,  Benjamin  Bonneville  and  Thomas  Bonneville, 
their  education  and  maintenance,  until  they  come  to  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years,  in  order  that  she  may  bring  them  well 
up,  give  them  good  and  useful  learning,  and  instruct  them  in 
their  duty  to  God,  and  the  practice  of  morality,  the  rent  of 
the  land  or  the  interest  of  the  money  for  which  it  may  be  sold, 
as  hereinafter  mentioned,  to  be  employed  in  their  education. 
And  after  the  youngest  of  the  said  children  shall  have  arrived 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  in  further  trust  to  convey  the 
same  to  the  said  children  share  and  share  alike  in  fee  simple. 
But  if  it  shall  be  thought  advisable  by  my  executors  and  ex- 
ecutrix, or  the  survivor  or  survivors  of  them,  at  any  time 
before  the  youngest  of  the  said  children  shall  come  of  age,  to 
sell  and  dispose  of  the  said  south  side  of  the  said  farm,  in  that 
case  I  hereby  authorize  and  empower  my  said  executors  to 
sell  and  dispose  of  the  same,  and  I  direct  that  the  money 
arising  from  such  sale  be  put  into  stock,  either  in  the  United 
States  bank  stock  or  New  York  Phoenix  Insurance  company 
stock,  the  interest  or  dividends  thereof  to  be  applied  as  is  al- 
ready directed,  for  the  education  and  maintenance  of  the  said 
children ;  and  the  principal  to  be  transferred  to  the  said 
children  or  the  survivor  of  them  on  his  or  their  coming  of 
age.  I  know  not  if  the  society  of  people  called  quakers  ad- 
mit a  person  to  be  buried  in  their  bury  ing-ground,  who  does 
not  belong  to  their  society,  but  if  they  do  or  will  admit  mCj  I 


190  LIFE    OF   THOMAS   PAINE. 

would  prefer  being  buried  there,  my  father  belonged  to  that 
profession,  and  I  was  partly  brought  up  in  it.  But  if  it  is  not 
consistent  with  their  rules  to  do  this,  I  desire  to  be  buried  on 
my  farm  at  New  Rochelle.  The  place  where  I  am  to  be  bu- 
ried to  be  a  square  of  twelve  feet,  to  be  enclosed  with  rows  of 
trees,  and  a  stone  or  post  and  railed  fence,  with  a  head-stone 
with  my  name  and  age  engraved  upon  it,  author  of  '  Common 
Sense.'  I  nominate,  constitute,  and  appoint,  Walter  Morton, 
of  the  New  York  Phrenix  Insurance  company,  and  Thomas 
Addis  Emmet,  counsellor-at-law,  late  of  Ireland,  and  Margaret 
B.  Bonneville,  executors  and  executrix  to  this  my  last  will  and 
testament,  requesting  them  the  said  Walter  Morton  and  Thomas 
Addis  Emmet,  that  they  will  give  what  assistance  they  con- 
veniently can  to  Mrs.  Bonneville,  and  see  that  the  children  be 
well  brought  up.  Thus  placing  confidence  in  their  friendship, 
I  herewith  take  my  final  leave  of  them  and  of  the  world.  I 
have  lived  an  honest  and  useful  life  to  mankind ;  my  time  has 
been  spent  in  doing  good;  and  I  die  in  perfect  composure  and 
resignation  to  the  will  of  my  Creator  God.  Dated  this  eigh- 
teenth day  of  January,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  nine,  and  I  have  also  signed  my  name  to  the  other  sheet 
of  this  will  in  testimony  of  its  being  a  part  thereof. 

THOMAS  PAINE.     (L.S.) 

Signed,  sealed,  published  and  declared  by  the  testator,  in 
our  presence,  who,  at  his  request,  and  in  the  presence  of  each 
other,  have  set  our  names  as  witnesses  thereto,  the  words  '  pub- 
lished and  declared'  first  interlined. 

WILLIAM  KEESE, 
JAMES  ANGEVINE, 
CORNELIUS  RYDER." 


MONUMENT  TO  THOMAS  PAINE. 

ON  the  fourth  of  July,  1837,  we  visited  the  tomb,  or  place 
of  burial,  of  Thomas  Paine,  near  New  Rochelle,  and  in  the 
Beacon  of  July  15,  1837,  thus  described  it  (see  Beacon, 
Vol.  I.  page  331)  :— 

"  The  tomb  is  close  by  the  road  side,  but  over  a  stone  fence, 
and  now  consists  of  a  low,  broken,  rough,  dry  stone  wall,  of 
oblong  shape,  of  about  eight  by  four  feet,  with  loose  stones, 
grass,  and  earth,  in  the  centre  ;  the  upright  slab,  simply  mark- 
ed with 

*  THOMAS   PAINE,    AUTHOR   OF    COMMON   SENSE,' 

no  longer  exists.     After  Cobbett  violated  the  grave,  and  re- 


MONUMENT   TO   PAINE.  191 

moved  the  bones  from  the  remains  of  Mr.  Paine,  the  headstone 
was  broken,  and  pieces  successively  removed  by  different  vis- 
iters :  one  large  fragment  was  preserved  by  a  lady  in  an  op- 
posite cottage,  in  which  Mr.  Paine  had  sometimes  boarded, 
and  in  which  Mr.  and  Madame  Bonneville  afterward  boarded ; 
but  this  fragment  gradually  suffered  diminution,  as  successive 
visiters  begged  a  piece  of  what  they  could  no  longer  steal. 
To  preserve  the  last  remnant,  this  lady  has  had  it  plastered  up 
in  a  wall. 

We  discovered  that  the  lady  mentioned,  the  nearest 
neighbor  to  the  tomb,  would  be  favorable  to  the  repair  of 
the  tomb,  and  we  learned  that  she  believed  that  such  repairs 
would  be  popular  among  the  neighbors ;  and  on  this  under- 
standing, in  which  we  have  not  been  deceived,  we  determined 
to  commence  a  subscription  to  repair  the  tomb,  or  put  up  a 
monument  ;  and  before  we  left  the  village  we  obtained  from 
Mr.  James,  who  had  then  marble  saw-mills  in  New  Rochelle, 
a  promise  to  be  at  the  expense  of  putting  up  a  heavy  block  of 
marble,  instead  of  a  head- stone,  if  purchased  by  subscription  ; 
subsequently  Mr.  Frazee,  an  eminent  architect,  offered  in  con- 
junction with  some  friends  to  give  the  work  on  a  monument, 
if  the  materials  were  procured,  and  other  expenses  paid.  This 
has  now  been  accomplished,  and  paid  for.  The  monument 
stands  on  the  Paine  farm,  at  the  head  of  the  grave,  on  twenty 
feet  square,  enclosed  by  a  substantial  wall  on  three  sides,  and 
an  iron  railing  in  front  (not  yet  up,  March  184-1).  It  is  built 
of  the  marble  of  the  country,  and  is  valued  at  about  thirteen 
hundred  dollars.  The  accompanying  cut  is  a  faint  represent- 
ation, and  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  from  the  archi- 
tect will  best  describe  the  monument  and  the  feelings  of  the 
neighborhood,  which  is  two  miles  from  the  village  of  New 
Rochelle."— G.  V. 

"NEW  YORK,  Nov.  12,  1839- 
To  MR.  VALE  : 

Will  you  please  to  inform  our  friends  that  the  monument 
to  Thomas  Paine  is  erected  1  On  Friday  last  I  took  with  me 
a  rigger  and  went  up  to  the  quarries,  and  on  that  day  we  got 
the  marble  to  the  spot  with  the  machinery  and  other  apparatus 
necessary  to  the  work. — At  an  early  hour  on  Saturday  morn- 
ing, we  mustered  all  hands  at  the  grave,  and  commenced  the 
erection  of  the  monument  in  good  earnest,  and  in  good  spirits. 
Everything  worked  well,  and  at  three  o'clock,  P.  M.,  the  crown 
piece  was  on,  and  the  erection  complete. — No  person  was 
hurt,  nor  any  part  of  the  work  broken  or  injured. — The  peo- 
ple up  there  say  it  is  a  chaste  and  beautiful  structure.  Its 
purely  Grecian  character  and  simplicity  of  form,  render  its 
general  effect  truly  impressive  and  interesting. — The  summit 
is  twelve  and  a  half  feet  above  the  level  of  the  road  at  that 
point. 


192 


LIFE  OF  THOMAS  PAINE. 


HOMAS  PAINE 

AUTHOR  Of 

COMMON  SENSE 


Paine's  monument. 

I  was  much  pleased  to  find  that  among  the  number  of  fifty 
persons  and  more,  that  were  assembled  to  witness  our  labors, 
not  an  unkind  look  was  seen,  nor  an  unfriendly  expression 
heard,  during  the  time.  All  looked  and  spake  as  though  their 
hearts  were  glad  at  seeing  such  marked  regard' — such  noble 
and  lasting  honor  paid  to  the  GREAT  PATRIOT  of  our  revolution 
and  the  defender  of  the  rights  of  man. 

I  have  a  little  trimming  to  do  yet  on  the  head,  which  will 
occupy  me  the  best  part  of  a  day ;  this  I  will  endeavor  to  ac- 
complish this  week  when  the  monument  will  be  completed. 

Very  truly  yours, 

JOHN  FRAZEE." 

NOTE. — The  manuscript  of  the  life  of  Mr.  Paine,  for  want  of  surplus  funds,  lay 
by  us  for  four  years,  and  in  the  interim  some  changes  have  necessarily  taken 
place,  which  we  believe  we  have  noticed  in  the  body  of  the  work ;  but  aware  of 
this  delay  (not  unfavorable  to  accuracy)  and  willing  to  secure  the  living  testi- 
mony then  in  being,  and  which,  from  the  age  of  some  of  the  parties,  was  of  un- 
certain tenure,  we  published  in  the  Beacon  from  time  to  time,  such  evidences  as 
we  procured,  with  all  the  circumstances,  and  thus  secured,  while  living,  the  sanc- 
tion of  some  who  have  since  died.^-G.  V. 


APPENDIX 

TO    THE 

LIFE    OF   THOMAS   PAINE, 
BY  G.  VALE. 


THOMAS  PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON. 

INTRODUCTION. 

IN  introducing  these  letters  to  the  public  for  the  first  time 
in  the  United  States,  we  made  the  following  remarks  in  the 
Beacon : — 

"  These  letters  have  been  suppressed  in  most  of  the  Amer- 
ican editions  of  Paine's  works  ;  as  the  publishers  choose  to 
pay  the  American  people  the  bad  compliment  to  suppose  that 
their  publication  would  hurt  the  sale  of  the  work  ;  and  that 
the  people  were  so  thin  skinned  that  they  could  not  bear  to 
hear  faults  attributed  to  the  father  of  the  country.  We  be- 
lieve they  will  like  to  see  these  suppressed  letters,  and  with- 
out altering  their  opinion  of  either  Washington  or  Paine,  they 
will  be  pleased  to  read  them  ;  as  exhibiting  some  curious 
facts,  and  Paine's  accustomed  good  sense,  accurate  informa- 
tion, and  sound  patriotism,  without  degrading  General  Wash- 
ington. For  our  part  we  do  not  think  that  Paine  could  have 
supplied  the  place  of  Washington,  or  Washington  that  of 
Paine ;  neither  do  we  consider  either  the  one  or  the  other 
perfect ;  but  both  wiser  and  better  men  than  most  who  are 
trusted  with  power,  or  move  the  strings  affecting  public 
affairs. 

These  letters  were  published  by  Paine  himself,  and  copied  by 
us  from  a  London  edition,  by  T.  Williams,  Little  Turnstile, 
High  Holborn,  in  the  year  1797,  when  Paine  was  in  Europe. 
We  believe  also  that  they  were  printed  at  Philadelphia,  but 
suppressed."  G.  V. 


THE  LETTERS. 

PARIS,  August  3.  1796.    ' 

As  censure  is  but  awkwardly  softened  by  apology,  I  shall 
offer  you  no  apology  for  this  letter.  The  eventful  crisis,  to 
which  your  double  politics  have  conducted  the  affairs  of  your 
country,  requires  an  investigation  uncramped  by  ceremony. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  fame  of  America,  moral  and 
political,  stood  fair  and  high  in  the  world.  The  lustre  of  her 
revolution  extended  itself  to  every  individual,  and  to  be  a 
citizen  of  America,  gave  a  title  to  respect  in  Europe.  Nei- 
ther meanness  nor  ingratitude  had  been  mingled  in  the  com- 
position of  her  character.  Her  resistance  to  the  attempted 
tyranny  of  England  left  her  unsuspected  of  the  one,  and  her 
open  acknowledgment  of  the  aid  she  received  from  France 
precluded  all  suspicion  of  the  other.  The  politics  of  Wash- 
ington had  not  then  appeared. 

At  the  time  I  left  America  (April,  1787)  the  continental 
convention,  that  formed  the  federal  constitution,  was  on  the 
point  of  meeting.  Since  that  time  new  schemes  of  politics, 
and  new  distinction  of  parties,  have  arisen.  The  term  anti- 
federalist  has  been  applied  to  all  those  who  combated  the  de- 
fects of  that  constitution,  or  opposed  the  measures  of  your 
administration.  It  was  only  to  the  absolute  necessity  of  es- 
tablishing some  federal  authority,  extending  equally  over  all 
the  states,  that  an  instrument  so  inconsistent  as  the  present 
federal  constitution  is,  obtained  a  suffrage.  I  would  have 
voted  for  it  myself,  had  I  been  in  America,  or  even  for  a  worse, 
rather  than  have  had  none  j  provided  it  contained  the  means 
of  remedying  its  defects  by  the  same  appeal  to  the  people,  by 
which  it  was  to  be  established.  It  is  always  better  policy  to 
leave  removable  errors  to  expose  themselves,  than  to  hazard 
too  much  in  contending  against  them  theoretically. 

I  have  introduced  these  observations  not  only  to  mark  the 
general  difference  between  the  anti-federalist  and  anti-consti- 
tutionalist, but  to  preclude  the  effect,  and  even  the  application, 
of  the  former  of  these  terms  to  myself.  I  declare  myself  op- 
posed to  several  matters  in  the  constitution,  particularly  to 
the  manner  in  which  what  is  called  the  executive  is  formed, 
and  to  the  long  duration  of  the  senate  ;  and  if  I  live  to  return 
to  America,  I  will  use  all  my  endeavors  to  have  them  altered. 
I  also  declare  myself  opposed  to  almost  the  whole  of  your 
a'dministration ;  for  I  know  it  to  have  been  deceitful,  if  not 
perfidious,  as  I  shall  show  in  the  course  of  this  letter.  But 
as  to  the  point  of  consolidating  the  states  into  a  federal  gov- 
ernment, it  so  happens  1;hat  the  proposition  for  that  purpose 
came  originally  from  myself.  I  proposed  it  in  a  letter  to 
Chancellor  Livingston  in  the  spring  of  the  year  1782,  while 
that  gentleman  was  minister  for  foreign  affairs.  The  five  per 


MAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON.  in 

cent,  duty  recommended  by  congress  had  then  fallen  through, 
having  heen  adopted  by  some  of  the  states,  altered  by  others, 
rejected  by  Ehode  Island,  and  repealed  by  Virginia,  after  it 
had  been  consented  to.  The  proposal  in  the  letter  I  allude 
to,  was  to  get  over  the  whole  difficulty  at  once,  by  annexing 
a  continental  legislative  body  to  congress ;  for  in  order  to 
have  any  law  of  the  Union  uniform,  the  case  could  only  be, 
that  either  congress  as  it  then  stood,  must  frame  the  law,  and 
the  states  severally  adopt  it  without  alteration,  or,  the  states 
must  elect  a  continental  legislature  for  the  purpose.  Chan- 
cellor Livingston,  Robert  Morris,  Governeur  Morris,  and  my- 
self, had  a  meeting  at  the  house  of  Robert  Morris  on  the  sub- 
ject of  that  letter.  There  was  no  diversity  of  opinion  on  the 
proposition  for  a  continental  legislature  :  the  only  difficulty 
was  on  the  manner  of  bringing  the  proposition  forward.  For 
my  own  part,  as  I  considered  it  as  a  remedy  in  reserve,  that 
could  be  applied  at  any  time,  when  the  states  saw  themselves 
wrong  enough  to  be  put  right  (which  did  not  appear  to  be  the 
case  at  that  time),  I  did  not  see  the  propriety  of  urging  it  pre- 
cipitately, and  declined  being  the  publisher  of  it  myself.  After 
this  account  of  a  fact,  the  leaders  of  your  party  will  scarcely 
have  the  hardiness  to  apply  to  me  the  term  of  anti-federalist. 
But  I  can  go  to  a  date  and  to  a  fact  beyond  this,  for  the  prop- 
osition for  electing  a  continental  convention.  To  form  the 
continental  government  is  one  of  the  subjects  treated  of  in 
the  pamphlet  "  Common  Sense." 

Having  thus  cleared  away  a  little  of  the  rubbish  that  might 
otherwise  have  lain  in  my  way,  I  return  to  the  point  of  time 
at  which  the  present  federal  constitution  and  your  adminis- 
tration began.  It  was  very  well  said  by  an  anonymous  writer 
in  Philadelphia,  about  a  year  before  that  period,  that  "  thir- 
teen staves  and  ne'er  a  hoop  will  not  make  a  barrel ;"  and  as  any 
kind  of  hooping  the  barrel,  however  defectively  executed, 
would  be  better  than  none,  it  was  scarcely  possible  but  that 
considerable  advantages  must  arise  from  the  federal  hooping 
of  the  states.  It  was  with  pleasure  that  every  sincere  friend 
to  America  beheld  as  the  natural  effect  of  union,  her  rising 
prosperity,  and  it  was  with  grief  they  saw  that  prosperity 
mixed,  even  in  the  blossom,  with  the  germe  of  corruption. 
Monopolies  of  every  kind  marked  your  administration  almost 
in  the  moment  of  its  commencement.  The  lands  obtained 
by  the  revolution  were  lavished  upon  partisans  ;  the  interest 
of  the  disbanded  soldier  was  sold  to  the  speculator  ;  injustice 
was  acted  under  the  pretence  of  faith ;  and  the  chief  of  the 
army  became  the  patron  of  the  fraud.  From  such  a  beginning 
what  else  could  be  expected,  than  what  has  happened  1  A 
mean  and  servile  submission  to  the  insults  of  one  nation ; 
treachery  and  ingratitude  to  another. 

Some  vices  make  their  approach  with  such  a  splendid  ap- 


iv  FAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON. 

pearance,  that  we  scarcely  know  to  what  class  of  moral  dis* 
tinctions  they  belong  r  they  are  rather  virtues  corrupted  than 
vices  originally.  But  meanness  and  ingratitude  have  nothing 
equivocal  in  their  character.  There  is  not  a  trait  in  them 
that  renders  them  doubtful.  They  are  so  originally  vice,  that 
they  are  generated  in  the  dung  of  other  vices,  and  crawl  into 
existence  with  the  filth  upon  their  back.  The  fugitives  have 
found  protection  in  you,  and  the  levee-room  is  their  place  of 
rendezvous. 

As  the  federal  constitution  is  a  copy,  though  not  quite  so 
base  as  the  original,  of  the  form  of  the  British  government, 
an  imitation  of  its  vices  was  naturally  to  be  expected.  So  in- 
timate is  the  connexion  between  form  and  practice,  that  to 
adopt  the  one  is  to  invite  the  other.  Imitation  is  naturally 
progressive,  and  is  rapidly  so  in  matters  that  are  vicious. 

Soon  after  the  federal  constitution  arrived  in  England,  I 
received  a  letter  from  a  female  literary  correspondent  (a  native 
of  New  York)  very  well  mixed  with  friendship,  sentiment,  and 
politics.  In  my  answer  to  that  letter,  I  permitted  myself  to 
ramble  into  the  wilderness  of  imagination,  and  to  anticipate 
what  might  hereafter  be  the  condition  of  America.  I  had  no 
idea  that  the  picture  I  then  drew  was  realizing  so  fast,  and  still 
less  that  Mr.  Washington  was  hurrying  it  on.  As  the  extract 
I  allude  to  is  congenial  with  the  subject  I  am  upon,  I  here 
transcribe  it : — 

"  You  touch  me  on  a  very  tender  point  when  you  say  that 
my  friends  on  your  side  of  the  water  cannot  be  reconciled  to 
the  idea  of  my  abandoning  America  even  for  my  native 
England.  They  are  right.  I  had  rather  see  my  horse,  Button, 
eating  the  grass  of  Bordentown,  or  Morrissania,  than  see  all 
the  pomp  and  show  of  Europe. 

"  A  thousand  years  hence,  for  I  must  indulge  a  few  thoughts, 
perhaps  in  less,  America  may  be  what  England  now  is.  The 
innocence  of  her  character,  that  won  the  hearts  of  all  nations 
in  her  favor,  may  sound  like  a  romance,  and  her  inimitable 
virtue  as  if  it  had  never  been.  The  ruins  of  that  liberty, 
which  thousands  bled  to  obtain,  may  just  furnish  materials  for 
a  village  tale,  or  extort  a  sigh  from  rustic  sensibility ;  while 
the  fashionable  of  that  day,  enveloped  in  dissipation,  shall  de- 
ride the  principle,  and  deny  the  fact. 

"  When  we  contemplate  the  fall  of  empires,  and  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  nations  of  the  ancient  world,  we  see  but  little  more 
to  excite  our  regret  than  the  mouldering  ruins  of  pompous 
palaces,  magnificent  monuments,  lofty  pyramids,  and  walls 
and  towers  of  the  most  costly  workmanship :  but  when  the 
empire  of  America  shall  fall,  the  subject  of  contemplated  sor- 
row will  be  infinitely  greater  than  crumbling  brass,  or  marble 
can  inspire.  It  will  not  then  be  said,  Here  stood  a  temple  of 


PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON,  v 

vast  antiquity,  here  rose  a  Babel  of  invisible  height,  or  there 
a  palace  of  sumptuous  magnificence  ;  but,  here,  ah,  painful 
thought !  the  noblest  work  of  human  wisdom,  the  greatest 
scene  of  human  glory,  the  fair  cause  of  freedom,  rose  and 
fell :  read  this,  and  then  ask  if  I  forget  America  !" 

Impressed  as  I  was,  with  apprehension  of  this  kind,  I  had 
America  constantly  in  my  mind  in  all  the  publications  I  after- 
ward made.  The  first,  and  still  more,  the  second  part  of  the 
"Rights  of  Man,"  bear  evident  marks  of  this  watchfulness;  and 
the  dissertations  on  first  principles  of  government  goes  more 
directly  to  the  point  than  either  of  the  former.  I  now  pass 
on  to  the  other  subjects. 

It  will  be  supposed  by  those  into  whose  hands  this  letter 
may  fall,  that  I  have  some  personal  resentment  against  you : 
and  I  will  therefore  settle  this  point  before  I  proceed  farther. 

If  I  have  any  resentment,  you  must  acknowledge  that  I  have 
not  been  hasty  in  declaring  it,  neither  would  it  now  be  de- 
clared (for  what  are  private  resentments  to  the  public)  if  the 
cause  of  it  did  not  unite  itself  as  well  with  your  public  as  with 
your  private  character,  and  with  the  motives  of  your  political 
conduct. 

The  part  I  acted  in  the  American  revolution  is  well  known. 
I  shall  not  here  repeat  it.  I  know  also,  that  had  it  not  been 
for  the  aid  received  from  France,  in  men,  money,  and  ships, 
your  cold  and  unmilitary  conduct  (as  I  shall  show  in  the  course 
of  this  letter)  would  in  all  possibility  have  lost  America ;  at 
least  she  would  not  have  been  the  independent  nation  she  now 
is.  You  slept  away  your  time  in  the  field,  till  the  finances  of 
the  country  were  completely  exhausted,  and  you  have  but 
little  share  in  the  glory  of  the  final  event.  It  is  time,  sir,  to 
speak  the  undisguised  language  of  historical  truth. 

Elevated  to  the  chair  of  the  presidency,  you  assumed  the 
merit  of  everything  to  yourself ;  and  the  natural  ingratitude 
of  your  constitution  began  to  appear.  You  commenced  your 
presidential  career  by  encouraging  and  swallowing  the  gros- 
sest adulation  ;  and  you  travelled  America  from  one  end  to 
the  other  to  put  yourself  in  the  way  of  receiving  it.  You 
have  as  many  addresses  in  your  chest  as  James  II.  As  to 
what  were  your  views,  for  if  you  are  not  great  enough  to  have 
ambition,  you  are  little  enough  to  have  vanity,  they  cannot  be 
directly  inferred  from  expressions  of  your  own  ;  but  the  par- 
tisans of  your  politics  have  divulged  the  secret. 

John  jJdams  has  said  (and  John  it  is  known  was  always  a 
speller  after  places  and  offices,  and  never  thought  his  little 
services  were  highly  enough  paid) — John  has  said,  that  as 
Mr.  Washington  had  no  child,  the  presidency  should  be  made 
hereditary  in  the  family  of  Lun  Washington.  John  might  then 
have  counted  upon  some  sinecure  for  himself,  and  a  provision 


vi  PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON. 

for  his  descendants.  He  did  not  go  so  far  as  to  say  also,  that 
the  vice-presidency  should  be  hereditary  in  the  family  of  John 
Adams.  He  prudently  left  that  to  stand  upon  the  ground  that 
one  good  turn  deserves  another.* 

John  Adams  is  one  of  those  men  who  never  contemplated 
the  origin  of  government,  or  comprehended  anything  of  first 
principles!  If  he  had,  he  might  have  seen,  that  the  right  to 
set  up  and  establish  hereditary  government  never  did,  and 
never  can,  exist  in  any  generation  at  any  time  whatever  ;  that 
it  is  of  the  nature  of  treason,  because  it  is  an  attempt  to  take 
away  the  rights  of  all  the  minors  living  at  that  time,  and  of 
all  succeeding  generations.  It  is  of  a  degree  beyond  common 
treason ;  it  is  a  sin  against  nature.  The  equal  rights  of  gen- 
erations is  a  right  fixed  in  the  nature  of  things,  it  belongs  to 
the  son  when  of  age,  as  it  belonged  to  the  father  before  him. 
John  Adams  would  himself  deny  the  right  that  any  former 
deceased  generation  could  have  to  decree  authoritatively  a 
succession  of  governors  over  him  or  over  his  children,  and 
yet  he  assumes  a  pretended  right,  treasonable  as  it  is,  of  act- 
ing it  himself.  His  ignorance  is  his  best  excuse. 

John  Jay  has  said  (and  this  John  was  always  the  sycophant 
of  everything  in  power,  from  Mr.  Girard  in  America,  to 
Grenville  in  England) — John.  Jay  has  said,  that  the  senate 
should  have  been  appointed  for  life.  He  would  then  have 
been  sure  of  never  wanting  a  lucrative  appointment  for  him- 
self, and  have  had  no  fears  about  impeachment.  These  are 
the  disguised  traitors  that  call  themselves  federalists.! 

Could  I  have  known  to  what  degree  of  corruption  and  per- 
fidy the  administrative  part  of  the  government  of  America 
had  descended,  I  could  have  been  at  no  loss  to  have  under- 
stood the  reservedness  of  Mr.  Washington  toward  me  dur- 
ing my  imprisonment  in  the  Luxembourg.  There  are  cases 
in  which  silence  is  a  loud  language.  I  will  here  explain  the 
cause  of  that  imprisonment,  and  return  to  Mr.  Washington 
afterward. 

In  the  course  of  that  rage,  terror,  and  suspicion,  which  the 
brutal  letter  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  first  started  into  ex- 
istence in  France,  it  happened  that  almost  every  man  who  was 
opposed  to  violence,  or  who  was  not  violent  himself,  became 
suspected.  I  had  constantly  been  opposed  to  everything 
which  was  of  the  nature,  or  of  the  appearance  of  violence  ; 
but  as  I  had  always  done  it  in  a  manner  that  showed  it  to  be 
a  principle  founded  in  my  heart,  and  not  a  political  manoeuvre, 
it  precluded  the  pretence  of  accusing  me.  I  was  reached  how- 
ever under  another  pretence. 

*  Two  persons  to  whom  John  Adams  said  this,  told  me  of  it.  The  secretary 
of  Mr.  Jay  was  present  when  it  was  told  to  me. 

T  If  Mr.  John  Jay  desires  to  know  on  what  authority  I  say  this,  I  will  give  that 
authority  publicly  when  he  chooses  to  call  for  it. 


PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON*  vii 

A  decree  was  passed  to  imprison  all  persons  born  in  Eng- 
land ;  but  as  I  was  a  member  of  the  convention,  and  had  been 
complimented  with  the  honorary  style  of  citizen  of  France, 
as  Mr.  Washington  and  some  other  Americans  have  been, 
this  decree  fell  short  of  reaching  me.  A  motion  was  after- 
ward made  and  carried,  supported  chiefly  by  Bourdon  de 
1'Oise,  for  expelling  foreigners  from  the  convention.  My  ex- 
pulsion being  thus  effected,  the  two  committees  of  public 
safety  and  of  general  surety,  of  which  Robespierre  was  the 
dictator,  put  me  in  arrestation  under  the  former  decree  for 
imprisoning  persons  born  in  England.  Having  thus  shown 
under  what  pretence  the  imprisonment  was  effected,  I  come 
to  speak  of  such  parts  of  the  case  as  apply  between  me  and 
Mr.  Washington,  either  as  a  president,  or  as  an  individual. 

I  have  always  considered  that  a  foreigner,  such  as  I  was  in 
fact,  with  respect  to  France,  might  be  a  member  of  a  conven- 
tion for  framing  a  constitution,  without  affecting  his  right  of 
citizenship,  in  the  country  to  which  he  belongs,  but  not  a 
member  of  a  government  after  a  constitution  is  formed  ;  and 
I  have  uniformly  acted  upon  this  distinction.  To  be  a  mem- 
ber of  a  government  requires  a  person  being  in  allegiance 
with  that  government  and  to  the  country  locally.  But  a  con- 
stitution, being  a  thing  of  principle,  and  not  of  action,  and 
which  after  it  is  formed,  is  to  be  referred  to  the  people  for 
their  approbation  or  rejection,  does  not  require  allegiance  in 
the  persons  forming  and  proposing  it ;  and  beside  this,  it  is 
only  to  the  thing  after  it  is  formed  and  established,  and  to  the 
country  after  its  governmental  character  is  fixed  by  the  adop- 
tion of  a  constitution,  that  the  allegiance  can  be  given.  No 
oath  of  allegiance  or  of  citizenship  was  required  of  the  mem- 
bers who  composed  the  convention  :  there  was  nothing  exist- 
ing in  form  to  swear  allegiance  to.  If  any  such  condition 
had  been  required,  I  could  not,  as  a  citizen  of  America,  in 
fact,  though  citizen  of  France  by  compliment,  have  accepted 
a  seat  in  the  convention. 

As  my  citizenship  in  America  was  not  altered  or  diminish- 
ed by  anything  I  had  done  in  Europe  (on  the  contrary,  it 
ought  to  have  been  considered  as  strengthened,  for  it  was  the 
American  principle  of  government  that  I  was  endeavoring  to 
spread  in  Europe),  and  as  it  is  the  duty  of  every  government 
to  charge  itself  with  the  care  of  any  of  its  citizens  who  may 
happen  to  fall  under  an  arbitrary  persecution  abroad,  and  this 
is  also  one  of  the  reasons  for  which  ambassadors  or  ministers 
are  appointed,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  executive  department  in 
America,  to  have  made,  at  least  some  inquiries  about  me,  as 
soon  as  it  heard  of  my  imprisonment.  But  if  this  had  not 
been  the  case,  that  government  owed  it  to  me  on  every  ground 
of  honor  and  gratitude.  Mr.  Washington  owed  it  to  me  on 
every  score  of  private  acquaintance,  I  will  not  now  say  friend* 


viii  PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON. 

ship  j  for  it  has  sometime  been  known  by  those  who  know 
him,  that  he  has  no  friendships,  that  he  is  incapable  of  form- 
ing any  ;  he  can  serve  or  desert  a  man,  or  a  cause,  with  con- 
stitutional indifference  ;  and  it  is  this  cold  hermaphrodite 
faculty  that  imposed  itself  upon  the  world,  and  was  credited 
a  while  by  enemies,  as  by  friends,  for  prudence,  moderation, 
and  impartiality. 

Soon  after  I  was  put  into  arrestation  and  imprisonment  in 
the  Luxembourg,  the  Americans  who  were  then  in  Paris,  went 
in  a  body  to  the  bar  of  the  convention  to  reclaim  me,  They 
were  answered  by  the  then  president  Vadier,  who  has  since 
absconded,  that  /  was  born  in  England,  and  it  was  signified 
to  them,  by  some  of  the  committee  of  general  surety,  to  whom 
they  were  referred  (I  have  been  told  it  wasBillaud  Varennes), 
that  their  reclamation  of  me  was  only  the  act  of  individuals, 
without  any  authority  from  the  American  government. 

A  few  days  after  this,  all  communication  between  persons 
imprisoned,  and  any  person  without  the  prison,  was  cut  off  by 
an  order  of  the  police.  I  neither  saw  nor  heard  from  any 
person  for  six  months;  and  the  only  hope  that  remained  to 
me  was,  that  a  new  minister  would  arrive  from  America  to 
supersede  Morris,  and  that  he  would  be  authorized  to  inquire 
into  the  cause  of  my  imprisonment  ;  but  even  this  hope,  in 
the  state  to  which  matters  were  daily  arriving,  was  too  re- 
mote to  have  any  consolatory  effect,  and  I  contented  myself 
with  the  thought  that  I  might  be  remembered  when  it  would 
be  too  late.  There  is  perhaps,  no  condition  from  which  a 
man  conscious  of  his  own  uprightness,  cannot  derive  conso- 
lation j  for  it  is  in  itself  a  consolation  for  him  to  find,  that  he 
can  bear  that  condition  with  calmness  and  fortitude. 

From  about  the  middle  of  March  (1794)  to  the  fall  of  Robes- 
pierre, July  29  (9th  of  Thermidor),  the  state  of  things  in  the 
prisons  was  a  continued  scene  of  horror.  No  man  could 
count  upon  life  for  twenty  hours.  To  such  a  pitch  of  rage 
and  suspicion,  were  Robespierre  and  his  committee  arrived, 
that  it  seemed  as  if  they  feared  to  leave  a  man  to  live. 
Scarcely  a  night  .passed  in  which  ten,  twenty,  thirty,  forty, 
fifty,  or  more,  were  not  taken  out  of  the  prison,  carried  be- 
fore a  pretended  tribunal  in  the  morning,  and  guillotined  be- 
fore night.  One  hundred  and  sixty-nine  were  taken  out  of  the 
Luxembourg  one  night,  in  the  month  of  July,  and  one  hundred 
and  sixty  of  them  guillotined.  A  list  of  two  hundred  more, 
according  to  the  report  in  the  prison,  was  preparing  a  few 
days  before  Robespierre  fell.  In  this  last  list  I  have  good 
reason  to  be  believe  I  was  included.  A  memorandum  in  the 
handwriting  of  Robespierre  was  afterward  produced  in  the 
convention,  by  the  committee  to  whom  the  papers  of  Robes- 
pierre were  referred,  in  these  words  : — 


PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON.  ix 

"  Demander  que  Thomas  Paine  soit  decrete  d' accusation  pour 
Pinteret  de  1'Amerique,  autant  que  de  la  France."* 
I  had  been  imprisoned  seven  months,  and  the  silence  of  the 
executive  part  of  the  government  of  America  (Mr.  Washing- 
ton) upon  the  case,  and  upon  everything  respecting  me,  was 
explanation  enough  to  Robespierre  that  he  might  proceed  to 
extremities. 

A  violent  fever  which  had  nearly  terminated  my  existence, 
was,  I  believe,  the  circumstance  that  preserved  it.  I  was  not 
in  a  condition  to  be  removed,  or  to  know  of  what  was  passing, 
or  of  what  had  passed,  for  more  than  a  month.  It  makes  a  blank 
in  my  remembrance  of  life.  The  first  thing  I  was  informed 
of  was  the  fall  of  Robespierre/ 

About  a  week  after  this,  Mr.  Monroe  arrived  to  supersede 
Governeur  Morris,  and  as  soon  as  I  was  able  to  write  a  note 
legible  enough  to  be  read,  I  found  a  way  to  convey  one  to  him 
by  means  of  the  man  who  lighted  the  lamps  in  the  prison ; 
and  whose  unabated  friendship  to  me,  from  whom  he  had 
never  received  any  service,  and  with  difficulty  accepted  any 
recompense,  puts  the  character  of  Mr.  Washington  to  shame. 
In  a  few  days  I  received  a  message  from  Mr.  Monroe,  con- 
veyed to  me  in  a  note  from  an  intermediate  person,  with  as- 
surance of  his  friendship,  and  expressing  the  desire  that  I 
would  rest  the  case  in  his  hands.  After  a  fortnight  or  more 
had  passed,  and  hearing  nothing  farther,  I  wrote  to  a  friend 
who  was  then  in  Paris,  a  citizen  of  Philadelphia,  requesting 
him  to  inform  me  what  was  the  true  situation  of  things  with 
respect  to  me.  I  was  sure  that  something  was  the  matter  ;  I 
began  to  have  hard  thoughts  of  Mr.  Washington,  but  I  was 
unwilling  to  encourage  them. 

In  about  ten  days  I  received  an  answer  to  my  letter,  in 
which  the  writer  says,  "  Mr.  Monroe  has  told  me  that  he  has 
no  order  (meaning  from  the  president,  Mr.  Washington)  re- 
specting you,  but  that  he  (Mr.  Monroe)  will  do  everything  in 
his  power  to  liberate  you ;  but,  from  what  I  learn  from  the 
Americans  lately  arrived  in  Paris,  you  are  not  considered, 
either  by  the  American  government,  or  by  individuals,  as  an 
American  citizen." 

I  was  now  at  no  loss  to  understand  Mr.  Washington  and  his 
new-fangled  faction,  and  that  the  policy  was  silently  to  leave 
me  to  fall  in  France.  They  were  rushing  as  fast  as  they  could 
venture,  without  awakening  the  jealousy  of  America,  into  all 
the  vices  and  corruptions  of  the  British  government ;  and  it 
was  no  more  consistent  with  the  policy  of  Mr.  Washington, 
and  those  who  immediately  surrounded  him,  than  it  was  with 
that  of  Robespierre  or  of  Pitt,  that  I  should  survive. — They 

*  "  Demand  that  Thomas  Paine  be  decreed  of  accusation  for  the  interest  of 
America,  as  well  as  of  France." 

(2) 


have,  however,  missed  the  mark,  and  the  reaction  is  upon 
themselves. 

Upon  the  receipt  of  the  letter  just  alluded  to,  I  sent  a  me- 
morial to  Mr.  Monroe,  which  the  reader  will  find  in  the  ap- 
pendix, and  I  received  from  him  the  following  answer.  It  is 
dated  the  18th  of  September,  but  did  not  come  to  hand  till 
about  the  18th  of  October.  I  was  then  falling  into  a  relapse, 
the  weather  was  becoming  damp  and  cold,  fuel  was  not  to  be 
had,  and  the  abscess  in  my  side,  the  consequence  of  those 
things,  and  of  want  of  air  and  exercise,  was  beginning  to  form, 
and  has  continued  immoveable  ever  since.  Here  follows  Mr. 
Monroe's  letter. 

[This  letter  we  have  already  given  in  the  body  of  the  work, 
page  118.] 

The  part  of  Mr.  Monroe's  letter,  in  which  he  speaks  of  the 
president  (Mr.  Washington),  is  put  in  soft  language.  Mr. 
Monroe  knew  what  Mr.  Washington  had  said  formerly,  and 
he  was  willing  to  keep  that  in  view.  But  the  fact  is,  not  only 
that  Mr.  Washington  had  given  no  orders  to  Mr.  Monroe,  as 
the  letter  stated ;  but  he  did  not  so  much  as  say  to  him,  "  In- 
quire if  Mr.  Paine  be  dead  or  alive,  in  prison  or  out,  or  see  if 
there  be  any  assistance  we  can  give  him." 

While  these  matters  were  passing,  the  liberations  from  the 
prisons  were  numerons ;  from  twenty  to  forty  in  the  course 
of  almost  every  twenty-four  hours.  The  continuance  of  my 
imprisonment  after  a  new  minister  had  arrived  immediately 
from  America,  which  was  now  more  than  two  months,  was  a 
matter  so  obviously  strange,  that  I  found  the  character  of  the 
American  government  spoken  of  in  very  unqualified  terms  of 
reproach;  not  only  by  those  who  still  remained  in  prison,  but 
by  those  who  were  liberated,  and  by  persons  who  had  access 
to  the  prison  from  without.  Under  these  circumstances,  I 
wrote  again  to  Mr.  Monroe,  and  found  occasion  to  say,  among 
other  things,  "  It  will  not  add  to  the  popularity  of  Mr.  Wash- 
ington, to  have  it  believed  in  America,  as  it  is  believed  here — 
that  he  connives  at  my  imprisonment." 

The  case,  so  far  as  it  respected  Mr.  Monroe,  was,  that  hav- 
ing to  get  over  the  difficulties  which  the  strange  conduct  of 
Governeur  Morris  had  put  in  the  way  of  a  successor,  and  hav- 
ing no  authority  from  the  American  government,  to  speak 
officially  upon  anything  relating  to  me,  he  found  himself 
obliged  to  proceed  by  unofficial  means  with  individual  mem- 
bers ;  for  though  Robespierre  was  overthrown,  the  Robespier- 
rean  members  of  the  committee  of  public  Safety,  still  remain- 
ed in  considerable  force,  and  had  they  found  out,  that  Mr. 
Monroe  had  no  official  authority  upon  the  case,  they  would 
have  paid  little  or  no  regard  to  his  reclamation  of  me.  In  the 
meantime,  my  health  was  suffering  exceedingly,  the  dreary 
prospect  of  winter  was  coming  on;  and  imprisonment  was 


PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON.  xi 

still  a  thing  of  danger.  After  the  Robespierrean  members  of 
the  committee  were  removed,  by  the  expiration  of  their  time 
of  serving,  Mr.  Monroe  reclaimed  me,  and  I  was  liberated  the 
4th  of  November.  Mr.  Monroe  arrived  in  Paris  the  beginning 
of  August  before.  All  that  period  of  my  imprisonment,  at 
least,  I  owe  not  to  Robespierre,  but  to  his  colleague  in  proj- 
ects, George  Washington.  Immediately  upon  my  liberation, 
Mr.  Monroe  invited  me  to  his  house,  where  I  remained  more 
than  a  year  and  a  half;  and  I  speak  of  his  aid  and  friendship, 
as  an  open-hearted  man  will  always  do  in  such  a  case,  with 
respect  and  gratitude. 

Soon  after  my  liberation  the  convention  passed  a  unani- 
mous vote,  to  invite  me  to  return  to  my  seat  among  them. 
The  times  were  still  unsettled  and  dangerous,  as  well  from 
without  as  within,  for  the  coalition  was  unbroken,  and  the 
constitution  not  settled.  I  chose,  however,  to  accept  the  in- 
vitation ;  for  as  I  undertake  nothing  but  what  I  believe  to  be 
right,  I  abandon  nothing  that  I  undertake ;  and  I  was  willing 
also  to  show,  that,  as  I  was  not  of  a  cast  of  mind  to  be  de- 
terred by  prospects  or  retrospects  of  danger,  so  neither  were 
my  principles  to  be  weakened  by  misfortune  or  perverted  by 
disgust. 

Being  now  once  more  abroad  in  the  world,  I  began  to  find 
that  I  was  not  the  only  one  who  had  conceived  an  unfavorable 
opinion  of  Mr.  Washington  ;  it  was  evident  that  his  character 
was  on  the  decline  as  well  among  Americans  as  among  for- 
eigners of  different  nations.  From  being  the  chief  of  the 
government,  he  had  made  himself  the  chief  of  a  party ;  and  his 
integrity  was  questioned,  for  his  polities  had  a  doubtful  appear- 
ance. The  mission  of  Mr.  Jay  to  London,  notwithstanding 
there  was  an  American  minister  there  already,  had  then  taken 
place,  and  was  beginning  to  be  talked  of.  It  appeared  to 
others,  as  it  did  to  me,  to  be  enveloped  in  mystery,  which 
every  day  served  either  to  increase  or  to  explain  into  matter 
of  suspicion. 

In  the  year  1790,  or  about  that  time,  Mr.  Washington,  as 
president,  had  sent  Gouverneur  Morris  to  London,  as  his  se- 
cret agent,  to  have  some  communication  with  the  British 
ministry.  To  cover  the  agency  of  Morris  it  was  given  out,  I 
know  not  by  whom,  that  he  went  as  an  agent  from  Robert 
Morris  to  borrow  money  in  Europe,  and  the  report  was  per- 
mitted to  pass  uncontradicted.  The  event  of  Mr.  Morris's 
negotiation  was,  that  Mr.  Hammond  was  sent  minister  from 
England  to  America,  Pinckney  from  America  to  England,  and 
himself  minister  to  France.  If,  while  Morris  was  minister  in 
France,  he  was  not  an  emissary  of  the  British  ministry  and 
the  coalesced  powers,  he  gave  strong  reason  to  be  suspected 
of  it.  No  one  who  saw  his  conduct,  and  heard  his  conversa- 
tion, could  doubt  his  being  in  their  interest ;  and  had  he  not 


Xll  PAINE'S    LETTERS    TO    WASHINGTON. 

got  off  at  the  time  he  did,  after  his  recall,  he  would  have  been 
in  arrestation.  Some  letters  of  his  had  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  committee  of  public  safety,  and  inquiry  was  making 
after  him. 

A  great  bustle  had  been  made  by  Mr.  Washington  about  the 
conduct  of  Genet  in  America,  while  that  of  his  own  minister, 
Morris,  in  France,  was  infinitely  more  reproachable.  If  Genet 
was  imprudent  or  rash,  he  was  not  treacherous ,  but  Morris 
was  all  three.  He  was  the  enemy  of  the  French  revolution, 
in  every  stage  of  it.  But  notwithstanding  this  conduct  on  the 
part  of  Morris  and  the  known  profligacy  of  his  character,  Mr. 
Washington,  in  a  letter  he  wrote  to  him  at  the  time  of  recalling 
him  on  the  complaint  and  request  of  the  committee  of  public 
safety,  assures  him,  that  though  he  had  complied  with  that  re- 
quest, he  still  retained  the  same  esteem  and  friendship  for  him 
as  before.  This  letter  Morris  was  foolish  enough  to  tell  of; 
and,  as  his  own  character  and  conduct  were  notorious,  the 
telling  of  it  could  have  but  one  effect,  which  was  that  of  im- 
plicating the  character  of  the  writer.  Morris  still  loiters  in 
Europe,  chiefly  in  England  ;  and  Mr.  Washington  is  still  in 
correspondence  with  him.  Mr.  Washington  ought,  therefore, 
to  expect,  especially  since  his  conduct  in  the  affair  of  Jay's 
treaty,  that  France  must  consider  Morris  and  Washington  as 
men  of  the  same  description.  The  chief  difference,  however, 
between  the  two  is  (for  in  politics  there  is  none),  that  the  one 
is  profligate  enough  to  profess  an  indifference  about  moral 
principles,  and  the  other  is  prudent  enough  to  conceal  the 
want  of  them. 

About  three  months  after  I  was  at  liberty,  the  official  note 
of  Jay  to  Grenville,  on  the  subject  of  the  capture  of  American 
vessels  by  British  cruisers,  appeared  in  the  American  papers 
that  arrived  at  Paris.  Everything  was  of  a  piece — everything 
was  mean.  The  same  kind  of  character  went  to  all  circum- 
stances public  or  private.  Disgusted  at  this  national  degrada- 
tion, as  well  as  at  the  particular  conduct  of  Mr.  Washington 
to  me,  I  wrote  to  him  (Mr.  Washington)  on  the  22d  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1795,  under  cover  to  the  then  secretary  of  state, 
(Mr.  Randolph)  and  intrusted  the  letter  to  Mr.  Letombe,  who 
was  appointed  French  consul  to  Philadelphia,  and  was  on  the 
point  of  taking  his  departure.  When  I  supposed  M.  Letombe 
had  sailed,  I  mentioned  the  letter  to  Mr.  Monroe,  and  as  I  was 
then  in  his  house,  I  showed  it  to  him.  He  expressed  a  wish 
that  I  would  recall  it,  which  he  supposed  might  be  done,  as  he 
had  learned  that  Mr.  Letombe  had  not  then  sailed.  I  agreed 
to  do  so,  and  it  was  returned  by  Mr.  Letombe  under  cover  to 
Mr.  Monroe.  The  letter  will,  however,  now  reach  Mr.  Wash- 
ington publicly  in  the  course  of  this  work. 

About  the  month  of  September  following,  I  had  a  severe  re- 
lapse, which  gave  occasion  to  the  report  of  my  death.  I  had 


PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON.  xiu 

felt  it  coming  on  a  considerable  time  before,  which  occasion- 
ed me  to  hasten  the  work  I  had  then  on  hand,  "  The  Second 
Part  of  the  Age  of  Reason"  When  I  had  finished  the  work, 
I  bestowed  another  letter  on  Mr.  Washington,  which  I  sent  un- 
der cover  to  Mr.  Franklin  Bache  of  Philadelphia.  The  letter 
was  as  follows : — 

TO  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  : 

PARIS,  Sept.  20,  1795. 

SIR  :  I  had  written  you  a  letter,  by  Mr.  Letombe,  French 
consul,  but,  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Monroe,  I  withdrew  it,  and 
the  letter  is  still  by  me.  I  was  the  more  easily  prevailed  upon 
to  do  this,  as  it  was  then  my  intention  to  have  returned  to 
America  the  latter  end  of  the  present  year ;  but  the  illness  I 
now  suffer  prevents  me.  In  case  I  had  come,  I  should  have 
applied  to  you  for  such  parts  of  your  official  letters  (and  your 
private  ones,  if  you  had  chosen  to  give  them)  as  contained 
any  instructions  or  directions  either  to  Mr.  Monroe,  or  to  Mr. 
Morris,  or  to  any  other  person,  respecting  me ;  for  after  you 
were  informed  of  my  imprisonment  in  France,  it  was  incum- 
bent on  you  to  have  made  some  inquiry  into  the  cause,  as  you 
might  very  well  conclude  that  I  had  not  the  opportunity  of 
informing  you  of  it.  I  cannot  understand  your  silence  upon 
this  subject  upon  any  other  ground  than  as  connivance  at  my 
imprisonment ;  and  this  is  the  manner  it  is  understood  here, 
and  will  be  understood  in  America,  unless  you  will  give  me 
authority  for  contradicting  it.  I  therefore  write  you  this  let- 
ter, to  propose  to  you  to  send  me  copies  of  any  letters  you 
have  written,  that  I  may  remove  this  suspicion.  In  the  pre- 
face to  "  Second  Part  of  the  Age  of  Reason"  I  have  given  a 
memorandum  from  the  handwriting  of  Robespierre,  in  which 
he  proposed  a  decree  of  accusation  against  me,  "/or  the  in- 
terest of  America,  as  well  as  of  France"  He  could  have  no 
cause  for  putting  America  in  the  case,  but  by  interpreting  the 
silence  of  the  American  government  into  connivance  and  eon- 
sent.  I  was  imprisoned  on  the  ground  of  being  born  in  Eng- 
land ;  and  your  silence  in  not  inquiring  the  cause  of  that  im- 
prisonment, and  reclaiming  me  against  it,  was  tacitly  giving 
me  up.  I  ought  not  to  have  suspected  you  of  treachery ; 
but  whether  I  recover  from  the  illness  I  now  suffer,  or  not,  I 
shall  continue  to  think  you  treacherous,  till  you  give  me  cause 
to  think  otherwise.  I  am  sure  you  would  have  found  yourself 
more  at  your  ease,  had  you  acted  by  me  as  you  ought ;  for 
whether  your  desertion  of  me  was  intended  to  gratify  the 
English  government,  or  to  let  me  fall  into  destruction  in 
France,  that  you  might  exclaim  the  louder  against  the  French 
revolution ;  or  whether  you  hoped  by  my  extinction  to  meet 
with  less  opposition  in  mounting  up  the  American  govern- 


XIV 

ment  5  either  of  these  will  involve  you  in  reproach  you  will 
not  easily  shake  off.  THOMAS  PAINE. 

The  withdrawn  letter  alluded  to  in  the  above. 

TO  GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  I 

PARIS,  Feb.  22,  1795. 

SIR  :  As  it  is  always  painful  to  reproach  those  one  would 
wish  to  respect,  it  is  not  without  some  difficulty  I  have  taken 
the  resolution  to  write  to  you.  The  danger  to  which  I  have 
been  exposed  cannot  have  been  unknown  to  you,  and  the 
guarded  silence  you  have  observed  upon  that  circumstance  is 
what  I  ought  not  to  have  expected  from  you,  either  as  a  friend 
or  as  president  of  the  United  States. 

You  knew  enough  of  my  character  to  be  assured,  that  I 
could  not  have  deserved  imprisonment  in  France  ;  and,  with- 
out knowing  anything  more  than  this,  you  had  sufficient 
ground  to  have  taken  some  interest  for  my  safety.  Every 
motive  arising  from  recollection  ought  to  have  suggested  to 
you  the  consistency  of  such  a  measure.  But  I  cannot  find  that 
you  have  so  much  as  directed  any  inquiry  to  be  made  whether 
I  was  in  prison  or  at  liberty,  dead  or  alive;  what  the  cause  of 
that  imprisonment  was,  or  whether  there  was  any  service  or 
assistance  you  could  render.  Is  this  what  I  ought  to  have  ex- 
pected from  America,  after  the  part  I  have  acted  toward  her  1 
or  will  it  redound  to  her  honor  or  yours  that  I  tell  the  story  1 
I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  you  have  not  served  America 
with  more  fidelity,  or  greater  zeal,  or  more  disinterestedness, 
than  myself,  and  perhaps  not  with  better  effect.  After  the 
revolution  of  America  had  been  established,  you  rested  at 
home  to  partake  its  advantages,  and  I  ventured  into  new  scenes 
of  difficulty  to  extend  the  principles  which  that  revolution  had 
produced.  In  the  progress  of  events,  you  beheld  yourself  a 
president  in  America,  and  me  a  prisoner  in  France  ;  you  fold- 
ed your  arms,  forgot  your  friend,  and  became  silent. 

As  everything  I  have  been  doing  in  Europe  was  connected 
with  my  wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  America,  I  ought  to  be 
the  more  surprised  at  this  conduct  on  the  part  of  her  govern- 
ment. It  leaves  me  but  one  mode  of  explanation,  which  is, 
that  everything  is  not  as  it  ought  to  be  among  you,  and  that  the 
presence  of  a  man  who  might  disapprove,  and  who  had  credit 
enough  with  the  country  to  be  heard  and  believed,  was  not 
wished  for.  This  was  the  operating  motive  with  the  despotic 
faction  that  imprisoned  me  in  France  (though  the  pretence 
was  that  I  was  a  foreigner)  and  those  that  have  been  silent 
and  inactive  toward  me  in  America,  appear  to  me  to  have 
acted  from  the  same  motive.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  dis- 
cover any  other. 

After  the  part  I  have  taken  in  the  revolution  of  America,  it 


PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON.  xv 

is  natural  that  I  feel  interested  in  whatever  relates  to  her 
character  and  prosperity.  Though  I  am  not  on  the  spot  to 
see  what  is  immediately  acting  there,  I  see  some  part  of  what 
she  is  acting  in  Europe.  For  your  own  sake,  as  well  as  for 
that  of  America,  I  was  both  surprised  and  concerned  at  the 
appointment  of  Gouverneur  Morris  to  be  minister  to  France. 
His  conduct  has  proved,  that  the  opinion  I  had  formed  of  that 
appointment  was  well  founded.  I  wrote  that  opinion  to  Mr. 
Jefferson  at  the  time,  and  I  was  frank  enough  to  say  the  same 
thing  to  Morris,  that  it  was  an  unfortunate,  appointment.  His 
prating  insignificant  pomposity  rendered  him  at  once  offensive, 
suspected,  and  ridiculous  ;  and  his  total  neglect  of  all  business 
had  so  disgusted  the  Americans,  that  they  proposed  drawing 
up  a  protest  against  him.  He  carried  this  neglect  to  such  an 
extreme,  that  it  was  necessary  to  inform  him  of  it ;  and  I  ask- 
ed him  one  day,  if  he  did  not  feel  himself  ashamed  to  take  the 
money  of  the  country  and  do  nothing  for  it ;  but  Morris  is  so 
fond  of  profit  and  voluptuousness,  that  he  cares  nothing  about 
character.  Had  he  not  been  removed  at  the  time  he  was,  I 
think  his  conduct  would  have  precipitated  the  two  countries 
into  a  rupture  ;  and  in  this  case,  hated  systematically  as  Amer- 
ica, is,  and  ever  will  be,  by  the  British  government,  and  at  the 
same  time  suspected  by  France,  the  commerce  of  America 
would  have  fallen  a  prey  to  both. 

If  the  inconsistent  conduct  of  Morris  exposed  the  interest 
of  America  to  some  hazard  in  France,  the  pusillanimous  con- 
duct of  Mr.  Jay  in  England  has  rendered  the  American  govern- 
ment contemptible  in  Europe.  Is  it  possible  that  any  man, 
who  has  contributed  to  the  independence  of  America,  and  to 
free  her  from  the  tyranny  and  injustice  of  the  British  govern- 
ment, can  read  without  shame  and  indignation  the  note  of  Jay 
to  Grenville  1  It  is  a  satire  upon  the  declaration  of  independ- 
ence, and  an  encouragement  to  the  British  government  to 
treat  America  with  contempt.  At  the  time  this  minister  of 
petitions  was  acting  this  miserable  part,  he  had  every  means 
in  his  hands  to  enable  him  to  have  done  his  business  as  he 
ought.  The  success  or  failure  of  his  mission  depended  upon 
the  success  or  failure  of  the  French  arms.  Had  France  failed, 
Mr.  Jay  might  have  put  his  humble  petition  in  his  pocket  and 
gone  home.  The  case  happened  to  be  otherwise,  and  he  has 
sacrificed  the  honor,  and  perhaps  the  advantage  of  it,  by  turn- 
ing petitioner.  I  take  it  for  granted,  that  he  was  sent  over  to 
demand  indemnification  for  the  captured  property ;  and,  in 
this  case,  if  he  thought  he  wanted  a  preamble  to  his  demand, 
he  might  have  said,  that,  "though  the  government  of  England 
might  suppose  itself  under  the  necessity  of  seizing  American 
property  bound  to  France,  yet  that  supposed  necessity  could 
not  preclude  indemnification  to  the  proprietors,  who,  acting 
under  the  authority  of  their  own  government,  were  not  ac- 


xvi  PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON. 

•»  * 

countable  to  any  other."  But  Mr.  Jay  sets  out  with  an  implied 
recognition  of  the  right  of  the  British  government  to  seize  and 
condemn  ;  for  he  enters  his  complaint  against  the  irregularity 
of  the  seizures,  and  the  condemnation,  as  if  they  were  repre- 
hensible only  by  not  being  conformable  to  the  terms  of  the 
proclamation  under  which  they  were  seized.  Instead  of  being 
the  envoy  of  a  government,  he  goes  over  like  a  lawyer  to  de- 
mand a  new  trial.  I  can  hardly  help  thinking  but  that  Gren- 
ville  wrote  that  note  himself,  and  Jay  signed  it ;  for  the  style 
of  it  is  domestic,  and  not  diplomatic.  The  term  his  majesty, 
used  without  any  descriptive  epithet,  always  signifies  the  king 
whom  the  minister  represents.  If  this  sinking  of  the  demand 
into  a  petition  was  a  juggle  between  Grenville  and  Jay  to  cover 
the  indemnification,  I  think  it  will  end  in  another  juggle,  that 
of  never  paying  the  money ;  and  be  made  use  of  afterward  to 
preclude  the  right  of  demanding  it :  for  Mr.  Jay  has  virtually 
disowned  the  right  by  appealing  to  the  magnanimity  of  his 
majesty  against  the  capturers.  He  has  made  this  magnanimous 
majesty  umpire  in  the  case,  and  the  government  of  the  United 
States  must  abide  by  the  decision.  If,  sir,  I  turn  some  part 
of  this  business  into  ridicule,  it  is  to  avoid  the  unpleasant  sen- 
sation of  serious  indignation. 

Among  other  things  which  I  confess  I  do  not  understand, 
is  your  proclamation  of  neutrality. — This  has  always  appeared 
to  me  as  an  assumption  on  the  part  of  the  executive.  But 
passing  this  over  as  a  disputable  case,  and  considering  it  only 
as  political,  the  consequence  has  been  that  of  sustaining  the 
losses  of  war,  without  the  balance  of  reprisals.  When  the 
profession  of  neutrality,  on  the  part  of  America,  was  answer- 
ed by  hostilities  on  the  part  of  Britain,  the  object  and  inten- 
tion of  that  neutrality  existed  no  longer ;  and  to  maintain  it 
after  this,  was  not  only  to  encourage  farther  insults  and  dep- 
redations, but  was  an  informal  breach  of  neutrality  toward 
France,  by  passively  contributing  to  the  aid  of  her  enemy. 
That  the  government  of  England  considered  the  American 
government  as  pusillanimous,  is  evident  from  the  increasing 
insolence  of  the  conduct  of  the  former  toward  the  latter,  till 
the  affair  of  General  Wayne.  She  then  saw  that  it  might  be 
possible  to  kick  a  government  into  some  degree  of  spirit.  So 
far  as  the  proclamation  of  neutrality  was  intended  to  prevent 
a  dissolute  spirit  of  privateering  in  America  under  foreign 
colors,  it  was  undoubtedly  laudable ;  but  to  continue  it  as  a 
government  neutrality,  after  the  commerce  of  America  was 
made  war  upon,  was  submission,  and  not  neutrality. — I  have 
heard  so  much  about  this  thing  called  neutrality,  that  I  know 
not  if  the  ungenerous  and  dishonorable  silence  (for  I  must  call 
it  such)  that  has  been  observed  by  your  part  of  the  govern- 
ment toward  me  during  my  imprisonment,  has  not  in  some 
measure  arisen  from  that  policy. 


XV11 

Though  I  have  written  you  this  letter,  you  ought  not  to  sup- 
pose it  has  been  an  agreeable  undertaking  to  me.  On  the 
contrary,  I  assure  you  it  has  cost  me  some  disquietude.  I  am 
sorry  you  have  given  me  cause  to  do  it ;  for,  as  I  have  always 
remembered  your  former  friendship  with  pleasure,  I  suffer  a 
loss  by  your  depriving  me  of  that  sentiment. 

THOMAS  PAINE. 

That  this  letter  was  not  written  in  very  good  temper,  is 
very  evident ;  but  it  was  just  such  a  letter  as  his  conduct  ap- 
peared to  me  to  merit,  and  everything  on  his  part  since  has 
served  to  confirm  that  opinion.  Had  I  wanted  a  commentary 
on  his  silence,  with  respect  to  my  imprisonment  in  France, 
some  of  his  faction  have  furnished  me  with  it.  What  I  here 
allude  to,  is  a  publication  in  a  Philadelphia  paper,  copied  after- 
ward into  a  New  York  paper,  both  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Washington  faction,  in  which  the  writer,  still  supposing  me 
in  prison  in  France,  wonders  at  my  lengthy  respite  from  the 
scaffold.  And  he  marks  his  politics  still  farther,  by  saying  : 
"  It  appears,  moreover,  that  the  people  of  England  did  not  rel- 
ish his  [Thomas  Paine's]  opinions  quite  so  well  as  he  expect- 
ed ;  and  that  for  one  of  his  last  pieces,  as  destructive  to  the 
peace  and  happiness  of  their  country  (meaning,  I  suppose,  the 
"  Rights  of  Man"),  they  threatened  our  knight-errant  with  such 
serious  vengeance,  that,  to  avoid  a  trip  to  Botany  Bay,  he  fled 
over  to  France,  as  a  less  dangerous  voyage." 

I  am  not  refuting  or  contradicting  the  falsehood  of  this  pub- 
lication, for  it  is  sufficiently  notorious,  neither  am  I  censuring 
the  writer,  on  the  contrary,  I  thank  him  for  the  explanation 
he  has  incautiously  given  of  the  principles  of  the  Washington 
faction.  Insignificant,  however,  as  the  piece  is,  it  was  capa- 
ble of  having  some  ill  effects,  had  it  arrived  in  France  during 
my  imprisonment,  and  in  the  time  of  Robespierre  ;  and  I  am 
uncharitable  in  supposing  that  this  was  one  of  the  intentions 
of  the  writer.* 

I  have  now  done  with  Mr.  Washington  on  the  score  of  pri- 
vate affairs.  It  would  have  been  far  more  agreeable  to  me, 
had  his  conduct  been  such  as  not  to  have  merited  these  re- 
proaches. Errors  or  caprices  of  temper,  can  be  pardoned  and 
forgotten ;  but  a  cold  deliberate  crime  of  the  heart,  such  as 
Mr.  Washington  is  capable  of  acting,  is  not  to  be  washed 
away. — I  now  proceed  to  other  matter. 

After  Jay's  note  to  Grenville  arrived  in  Paris  from  America, 
the  character  of  everything  that  was  to  follow  might  be  easily 
foreseen  ;  and  it  was  upon  this  anticipation  that  my  letter  of 

*  I  know  not  who  the  writer  of  this  piece  is,  but  some  late  Americans  say  it  is 
Phineas'  Bond,  an  American  refugee,  and  now  a  British  consul ;  and  that  he 
writes  under  the  signature  of  Peter  Skunk,  or  Peter  Porcupine  (Cobbett),  or  some 
such  signature. 


XV1I1  PAINE  S    LETTERS    TO    WASHINGTON, 

February  the  twenty-second  was  founded.  The  event  has 
proved  that  I  was  not  mistaken,  except  that  it  had  been  much 
worse  than  I  expected. 

It  would  naturally  occur  to  Mr.  Washington,  that  the  secresy 
of  Jay's  mission  to  England,  where  there  was  already  an 
American  minister,  could  not  but  create  some  suspicion  in  the 
French  government,  especially  as  the  conduct  of  Morris  had 
been  notorious,  and  the  intimacy  of  Mr.  Washington  with 
Morris  was  known. 

The  character  which  Mr.  Washington  has  attempted  to  act 
in  the  world,  is  a  sort  of  non-describable  chameleon-colored 
thing,  called  prudence.  It  is,  in  many  cases,  a  substitute 
for  principle,  and  is  so  nearly  allied  to  hypocrisy,  that  it 
easily  slides  into  it.  His  genius  for  prudence  furnished  him, 
in  this  instance,  with  an  expedient  that  served  (as  is  the  nat- 
ural and  general  character  of  all  expedients)  to  diminish  the 
embarrassment  of  the  moment,  and  multiply  them  afterward  ; 
for  he  caused  it  to  be  announced  to  the  French  government 
as  a  confidential  matter  (Mr.  Washington  should  recollect  that 
I  was  a  member  of  the  convention,  and  had  the  means  of  know- 
ing what  I  here  state — he  caused  it,  I  say,  to  be  announced, 
and  that  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  any  uneasiness  to  the 
French,  on  the  score  of  Mr.  Jay's  mission  to  England,  that  the 
object  of  that  mission,  and  Mr.  Jay's  authority,  were  restrict- 
ed to  the  demanding  of  the  surrender  of  the  western  posts, 
and  indemnification  for  the  cargoes  captured  in  American 
vessels. — Mr.  Washington  knows  that  this  was  untrue  ;  and 
knowing  this,  he  had  good  reason,  to  himself,  for  refusing  to 
furnish  the  house  of  representatives  with  copies  of  the  in- 
structions given  to  Jay,  as  he  might  suspect,  among  other 
things,  that  he  should  be  also  called  upon  for  copies  of  instruc- 
tions given  to  other  ministers,  and  that  in  the  contradiction 
of  instructions  his  want  of  integrity  would  be  detected.  Mr. 
Washington  may  now  perhaps  learn,  when  it  is  too  late  to  be 
of  any  use  to  him,  that  a  man  will  pass  better  through  the 
world  with  a  thousand  open  errors  upon  his  back,  than  in  be- 
ing detected  in  one  sly  falsehood.  When  one  is  detected,  a 
thousand  more  are  suspected. 

The  first  account  that  arrived  in  Paris  of  a  treaty  being  ne- 
gotiated by  Mr.  Jay  (for  nobody  suspected  any)  came  in  an 
English  newspaper,  which  announced  that  a  treaty,  offensive 
and  defensive,  had  been  concluded  between  the  United  States 
of  America  and  England.  This  was  immediately  denied  by 
every  American  in  Paris,  as  an  impossible  thing  ;  and  though 
it  was  disbelieved  by  the  French,  it  imprinted  a  suspicion  that 
some  underhand  business  was  going  forward.  At  last  the 
treaty  itself  arrived,  and  every  well-affected  American  blushed 
with  shame. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  how  the  appearances  of  characters 


PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON.  xix 

change,  while  the  root  that  produces  them  remains  the 
same.  The  Washington  faction  having  waded  through  the 
slough  of  negotiation,  and  while  it  amused  France  with  pro- 
fessions of  friendship  contrived  to  injure  her,  immediately 
throws  off  the  hypocrite  and  assumes  the  swaggering  air  of  a 
bravado.  The  party  papers  of  that  imbecile  administration 
were  on  this  occasion  filled  with  paragraphs  about  sovereignty 
A  poltron  may  boast  of  his  sovereign  right  to  let  another 
kick  him,  and  this  is  the  only  kind  of  sovereignty  shown  in 
the  treaty  with  England.  But  those  dashing  paragraphs,  as 
Timothy  Pickering  well  knows,  were  intended  for  France, 
without  whose  assistance,  in  men,  money,  and  ships,  Mr.  Wash- 
ington would  have  cut  but  a  poor  figure  in  the  American  war. 
But  of  his  military  talents  I  shall  speak  hereafter. 

I  mean  not  to  enter  into  any  discussion  of  any  article  of 
Jay's  treaty  ;  I  shall  speak  only  upon  the  whole  of  it.  It  is 
attempted  to  be  justified  on  the  ground  of  its  not  being  a  vio- 
lation of  any  article  or  articles  of  the  treaty  pre-existing  with 
France.  But  the  sovereign  right  of  explanation  does  not  lie 
with  George  Washington  and  his  man  Timothy ;  France,  on 
her  part,  has,  at  least,  an  equal  right :  and  when  nations  dis- 
pute,it  is  not  so  much  about  words  as  about  things. 

A  man,  such  as  the  world  calls  a  sharper,  as  versed  as  Jay 
must  be  supposed  to  be  in  the  quibbles  of  the  law,  may  find  a 
way  to  enter  into  engagements,  and  make  bargains,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  cheat  some  other  party,  without  that  party  being 
able,  as  the  phrase  is,  to  take  the  law  of  him.  This  often  hap- 
pens in  the  cabalistical  circle  of  what  is  called  law.  But  when 
this  is  attempted  to  be  acted  on  the  national  scale  of  treaties, 
it  is  too  despicable  to  be  defended,  or  to  be  permitted  to  exist. 
Yet  this  is  the  trick  upon  which  Jay's  treaty  is  founded,  so  far 
as  it  has  relation  to  the  treaty  pre-existing  with  France.  It  is  a 
counter-treaty  to  that  treaty,  and  perverts  all  the  great  articles 
of  that  treaty  to  the  injury  of  France,  and  makes  them  operate 
as  a  bounty  to  England,  with  whom  France  is  at  war.  The 
Washington  administration  shows  great  desire  that  the  treaty 
between  France  and  the  United  States  be  preserved.  Nobody 
can  doubt  its  sincerity  upon  this  matter.  There  is  not  a 
British  minister,  a  British  merchant,  or  a  British  agent  or  fac- 
tor, in  America,  that  does  not  anxiously  wish  the  same  thing. 
The  treaty  with  France  serves  now  as  a  passport  to  supply 
England  with  naval  stores,  and  other  articles  of  American 
produce  ;  while  the  same  articles  when  coming  to  France  are 
made  contraband,  or  seizable,  by  Jay's  treaty  with  England. 
The  treaty  with  France  says,  that  neutral  ships  make  neutral 
property,  and  thereby  gives  protection  to  English  property  on 
board  American  ships  ;  and  Jay's  treaty  delivers  up  French 
property  on  board  American  ships  to  be  seized  by  the  English. 
It  is  too  paltry  to  talk  of  faith,  of  national  honor,  and  of  the 


xx  PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON. 

preservation  of  treaties,  while  such  a  bare-faced  treachery  as 
this  stares  the  world  in  the  face. 

The  Washington  administration  may  save  itself  the  trouble 
of  proving  to  the  French  government  its  most  faithful  inten- 
tions of  preserving  the  treaty  with  France  ;  for  France  has 
now  no  desire  that  it  should  be  preserved  ;  she  had  nominated 
an  envoy  extraordinary  to  America,  to  make  Mr.  Washington 
and  his  government  a  present  of  the  treaty,  and  to  have  no 
more  to  do  with  that  or  with  him.  It  was  at  the  same  time 
officially  declared  to  the  American  minister  at  Paris,  that  the 
French  republic  had  rather  have  the  American  government  for 
an  open  enemy  than  a  treacherous  friend.  This,  sir,  together 
with  the  internal  distractions  caused  in  America,  and  the  loss 
of  character  in  the  world,  is  the  eventful  crisis  alluded  to  in 
the  beginning  of  this  letter,  to  which  your  double  politics 
have  brought  the  affairs  of  your  country.  It  is  time  that  the 
eyes  of  America  be  opened  upon  you. 

How  France  could  have  conducted  herself  toward  America, 
and  American  commerce,  after  all  treaty  stipulations  had 
ceased,  and  under  the  sense  of  services  rendered,  and  injuries 
received,  I  know  not.  It  is,  however,  an  unpleasant  reflec- 
tion, that  in  all  national  quarrels,  the  innocent,  and  even  the 
friendly  part  of  the  community,  become  involved  with  the  cul- 
pable and  the  unfriendly ;  and  as  the  accounts  that  arrived 
from  America  continued  to  manifest  an  invariable  attachment, 
in  the  general  mass  of  the  people,  to  their  original  ally,  in 
opposition  to  the  new-fangled  Washington  faction,  the  revo- 
lutions that  had  been  taken  in  France  were  suspended.  It 
happened  also,  fortunately  enough,  that  Gouverneur  Morris 
was  not  minister  at  this  time. 

There  is,  however,  one  point  that  yet  remains  in  embryo, 
and  which,  among  other  things,  serves  to  show  the  ignorance 
of  the  Washington  treaty-makers,  and  their  inattention  to  pre- 
existing treaties,  when  they  were  employing  themselves  in 
framing  or  ratifying  the  new  treaty  with  England. 

The  second  article  of  the  treaty  of  commerce  between  the 
United  States  and  France  says :  "  The  most  Christian  king  and 
the  United  States  engage  mutually  not  to  grant  any  particular 
favor  to  any  other  nations,  in  respect  to  commerce  and  navi- 
gation, that  shall  not  immediately  become  common  to  the 
other  party,  who  shall  enjoy  the  same  favor  freely,  if  the  con- 
cession was  freely  made,  or  on  allowing  the  same  compensa- 
tion if  the  concession  was  conditional." 

All  the  concessions  therefore  made  to  England  by  Jay's 
treaty  are,  through  the  medium  of  this  second  article  in  the 
pre-existing  treaty,  made  to  France,  and  become  engrafted 
into  the  treaty  with  France,  and  can  be  exercised  by  her  as  a 
matter  of  right,  the  same  as  by  England. 

Jay's  treaty  makes  a  concession  to  England,  and   that  un- 


PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON.  xxi 

conditionally,  of  seizing  naval  stores  in  American  ships,  and 
condemning  them  as  contraband.  It  makes  also  a  concession 
to  England  to  seize  provisions  and  other  articles  in  American 
ships.  Other  articles,  are  all  other  articles  ;  and  none  but  an 
ignoramus,  or  something  worse,  would  have  put  such  a  phrase 
into  a  treaty.  The  condition  annexed  to  this  case  is,  that  the 
provisions  and  other  articles  so  seized,  are  to  be  paid  for  at  a 
price  to  be  agreed  upon.  Mr.  Washington,  as  president,  rati- 
fied this  treaty  after  he  knew  the  British  government  had  re- 
commenced an  indiscriminate  seizure  of  provisions,  and  of  all 
other  articles  in  American  ships  ;  and  it  is  now  known  that 
those  seizures  were  made  to  fit  out  the  expedition  going  to 
Quiberon  Bay,  and  it  was  known  beforehand  that  they  would 
be  made.  The  evidence  goes  also  a  good  way  to  prove  that 
Jay  and  Grenville  understood  each  other  upon  that  subject. 
Mr.  Pinckney,  when  he  passed  through  France  in  his  way  to 
Spain,  spoke  of  the  recommencement  of  the  seizures  as  a  thing 
that  would  take  place.  The  French  government  had  by  some 
means  received  information  from  London  to  the  same  purpose, 
with  the  addition,  that  the  recommencement  of  the  seizures 
would  cause  no  misunderstanding  between  the  British  and 
American  governments.  Grenville,  in  defending  himself 
against  the  opposition  in  parliament,  on  account  of  the  scarcity 
of  corn,  said  (see  his  speech  at  the  opening  of  the  parliament 
that  met  October  29,  1795)  that  the  supplies  for  the  Quiberon 
expedition  were  furnished  out  of  the  American  ships,  and  all  the 
accounts  received  at  that  time  from  England  stated  that  those 
seizures  were  made  under  the  treaty.  After  the  supplies  for 
the  Quiberon  expedition  had  been  procured,  ahd  the  expected 
success  had  failed,  the  seizures  were  countermanded ;  and 
had  the  French  seized  provision  vessels  going  to  England,  it 
is  probable  that  the  Quiberon  expedition  could  not  have  been 
attempted. 

In  one  point  of  view,  the  treaty  with  England  operates  as  a 
loan  to  the  English  government.  It  gives  permission  to  that 
government  to  take  American  property  at  sea,  to  any  amount, 
and  pay  for  it  when  it  suits  her  ;  and,  beside  this,  the  treaty 
is  in  every  point  of  view  a  surrender  of  the  rights  of  American 
commerce  and  navigation,  and  a  refusal  to  France  of  the  rights 
of  neutrality.  The  American  flag  is  now  a  neutral  flag  to 
France  ;  Jay's  treaty  of  surrender  gives  a  monopoly  of  it  to 
England. 

On  the  contrary,  the  treaty  of  commerce  between  America 
and  France  was  formed  on  the  most  liberal  principles,  and  cal- 
culated to  give  the  greatest  encouragement  to  the  infant  com- 
merce of  America.  France  was  neither  a  carrier  nor  an  ex- 
porter of  naval  stores,  or  of  provisions ;  those  articles  belonged 
wholly  to  America  ;  and  they  had  all  the  protection  in  that 
treaty  which  a  treaty  can  give.  But  so  much  has  that  treaty 


xxii  PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON. 

been  perverted,  that  the  liberality  of  it  on  the  part  of  France 
has  served  to  encourage  Jay  to  form  a  counter-treaty  with 
England  ;  for  he  must  have  supposed  the  hands  of  France  tied 
up  by  her  treaty  with  America,  when  he  was  making  such 
large  concessions  in  favor  of  England.  The  injury  which  Mr. 
Washington's  administration  has  done  to  the  character,  as 
well  as  to  the  commerce  of  America,  is  too  great  to  be  repair- 
ed by  him.  Foreign  nations  will  be  shy  of  making  treaties 
with  a  government  that  has  given  the  faithless  example  of  per- 
verting the  liberality  of  a  former  treaty  to  the  injury  of  the  party 
with  whom  it  was  made. 

In  what  fraudulent  light  must  Mr.  Washington's  character 
appear  in  the  world,  when  his  declarations  and  his  conduct 
are  compared  together !  Here  follows  the  letter  he  wrote  to 
the  committee  of  public  safety,  while  Jay  was  negotiating  in 
profound  secresy  this  treacherous  treaty  : — 

"  George  Washington,  president  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica, to  the  representatives  of  the  French  people,  members 
of  the  committee  of  public   safety  of  the  French  republic, 
the  great  and  good  friend  and  ally  of  the  United  States. 
On  the  intimation  of  the  wish  of  the  French  republic  that  a 
new  minister  should  be  sent  from  the  United  States,  I  resolv- 
ed to  manifest  my  sense  of  the  readiness  with  which  my  re- 
quest was  fulfilled  (that  of  recalling  Genet),  by  immediately 
fulfilling  the  request  of  your  government  (that  of  recalling 
Morris). 

It  was  some  time  before  a  character  could  be  obtained 
worthy  of  the  high  office  of  expressing  the  attachment  of  the 
United  States  to  the  happiness  of  our  allies,  and  drawing  closer 
the  bonds  of  our  friendship.  I  have  now  made  choice  of  James 
Monroe,  one  of  our  distinguished  citizens,  to  reside  near  the 
French  republic,  in  quality  of  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the 
United  States  of  America.  He  is  instructed  to  bear  to  you 
our  sincere  solicitude  for  your  welfare,  and  to  cultivate  with 
zeal  the  cordiality  so  happily  subsisting  between  us.  From  a 
knowledge  of  his  fidelity,  probity,  and  good  conduct,  I  have 
entire  confidence  that  he  will  render  himself  acceptable  unto 
you,  and  give  effect  to  your  desire  of  preserving  and  advan- 
cing on  all  occasions  the  interests  and  connexion  of  the  two  na- 
tions. I  beseech  you,  therefore,  to  give  full  credence  to  what- 
ever he  shall  say  to  you  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  and 
most  of  all,  when  he  shall  assure  you  that  your  prosperity  is 
an  object  of  our  affection.  And  I  pray  God  to  have  the 
French  republic  in  his  holy  keeping.  G.  WASHINGTON." 

Was  it  by  entering  into  a  treaty  with  England  to  surrender 
French  property  on  board  American  ships,  to  be  seized  by  the 
English,  while  English  property  on  board  American  ships  was 


PAINS  S    LETTERS    TO    WASHINGTON.  XX11I 

declared  by  the  French  treaty  not  to  be  seizable,  that  the  bonds 
of  friendship  between  America  and  France  were  to  be  drawn 
closer  ?  Was  it  by  declaring  naval  stores  contraband  when 
coming  to  France,  while  by  the  French  treaty  they  were  not 
contraband  when  going  to  England,  that  the  connexion  between 
France  and  America  was  to  be  advanced  ?  Was  it  by  opening 
the  American  ports  to  the  British  navy  in  the  present  war, 
from  which  ports  that  same  navy  had  been  expelled  by  the  aid 
solicited  from  France  in  the  American  war  (and  that  aid  gra- 
tuitously given),  that  the  gratitude  of  America  was  to  be 
shown,  and  the  solicitude  spoken  of  in  the  letter  demon- 
strated 1 

As  the  letter  was  addressed  to  the  committee  of  public 
safety,  Mr.  Washington  did  not  expect  it  would  get  abroad  in 
the  world,  or  be  seen  by  any  other  eye  than  that  of  Robespierre, 
or  be  heard  by  any  other  ear  than  that  of  the  committee  ;  that 
it  would  pass  as  a  whisper  across  the  Atlantic  from  one  dark 
chamber  to  the  other,  and  there  terminate.  It  was  calculated 
to  remove  from  the  mind  of  the  committee  all  suspicion  upon 
Jay's  mission  to  England,  and  in  this  point  of  view  it  was  suit- 
ed to  the  circumstances  of  the  moment  then  passing ;  but  as 
the  event  of  that  mission  has  proved  the  letter  to  be  hypocrit- 
ical, it  serves  no  other  purpose  of  the  present  moment  than 
to  show  that  the  writer  is  not  to  be  credited.  Two  circum- 
stances served  to  make  the  reading  of  the  letter  necessary  in 
the  convention  ;  the  one  was,  that  they  who  succeeded  on  the 
fall  of  Robespierre,  found  it  most  proper  to  act  with  publicity ; 
the  other,  to  extinguish  the  suspicions  which  the  strange  con- 
duct of  Morris  had  occasioned  in  France. 

When  the  British  treaty  and  the  ratification  of  it  by  Mr. 
Washington  were  known  in  France,  all  farther  declarations 
from  him  of  his  good  disposition,  as  an  ally  and  a  friend,  pass- 
ed for  so  many  ciphers  ;  but  still  it  appeared  necessary  to  keep 
up  the  farce  of  declarations.  It  is  stipulated  in  the  British 
treaty,  that  commissioners  are  to  report,  at  the  end  of  two 
years,  on  the  case  of  neutral  ships  making  neutral  property. 
In  the  meantime,  neutral  ships  do  not  make  neutral  property 
according  to  the  British  treaty,  and  they  do  according  to  the 
French  treaty.  The  preservation  therefore  of  the  French 
treaty  became  of  great  importance  to  England,  as  by  that 
means  she  can  employ  American  ships  as  carriers,  while  the 
same  advantage  is  denied  to  France.  Whether  the  French 
treaty  could  exist  as  a  matter  of  right  after  this  clandestine 
perversion  of  it,  could  not  but  give  some  apprehensions  to  the 
partisans  of  the  British  treaty,  and  it  became  necessary  to 
them  to  make  up  by  fine  words  what  was  wanting  in  good 
actions. 

An  opportunity  offered  to  that  purpose.  The  convention, 
on  the  public  reception  of  Mr.  Monroe,  ordered  the  American 


xxiv  PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON. 

flag  and  the  French  flag  to  be  displayed  unitedly  in  the  hall  of 
the  convention.  Mr.  Monroe  made  a  present  of  an  American 
flag  for  the  purpose.  The  convention  returned  this  compli- 
ment, by  sending  a  French  flag  to  America,  to  be  presented 
by  their  minister,  Mr.  Adet,  to  the  American  government. 
This  resolution  passed  long  before  Jay's  treaty  was  known  or 
suspected :  it  passed  in  the  days  of  confidence  ; — but  the  flag 
was  not  presented  by  Mr.  Adet  till  several  months  after  the 
treaty  had  been  ratified.  Mr.  Washington  made  this  the  oc- 
casion of  saying  some  fine  things  to  the  French  minister ;  and 
the  better  to  get  himself  into  the  tune  to  do  this,  he  began  by 
saying  the  finest  things  of  himself. 

"Born,  sir,"  said  he,  "in  a  land  of  liberty;  having  learned 
its  value  ;  having  engaged  in  a  perilous  conflict  to  defend  it ; 
having,  in  a  word,  devoted  the  best  years  of  my  life  to  secure 
its  permanent  establishment  in  my  own  country;  my  anxious 
recollections,  my  sympathetic  feelings,  and  my  best  wishes, 
are  irresistibly  excited,  whenever,  in  any  country,  I  see  an  op- 
pressed people  unfurl  the  banner  of  freedom." — Mr.  Washing- 
ton having  expended  so  many  fine  phrases  upon  himself,  was 
obliged  to  invent  a  new  one  for  the  French,  and  he  calls  them 
"  wonderful  people  !" — The  coalesced  powers  acknowledge 
as  much. 

It  is  laughable  to  hear  Mr.  Washington  talk  of  his  sympa- 
thetic feelings •,  who  has  always  been  remarked,  even  among 
his  friends,  for  not  having  any.  He  has,  however,  given  no 
proof  of  any  to  me.  As  to  the  pompous  encomiums  he  so 
liberally  pays  to  himself  on  the  score  of  the  American  revolu- 
tion, the  propriety  of  them  may  be  questioned  ;  and,  since  he 
has  forced  them  so  much  into  notice,  it  is  fair  to  examine  his 
pretensions. 

A  stranger  might  be  led  to  suppose,  from  the  egotism  with 
which  Mr.  Washington  speaks,  that  himself,  and  himself  only, 
had  generated,  conducted,  completed,  and  established,  the 
revolution.  In  fine,  that  it  was  all  his  own  doing. 

In  the  first  place,  as  to  the  political  part,  he  had  no  share  in 
it ;  and  therefore  the  whole  of  that  is  out  of  the  question  with 
respect  to  him.  There  remains,  then,  only  the  military  part  ; 
and  it  would  have  been  prudent  in  Mr.  Washington  not  to  have 
awakened  inquiry  upon  that  subject.  Fame  then  was  cheap  ; 
he  enjoyed  it  cheaply  ;  and  nobody  was  disposed  to  take  away 
the  laurels  that,  whether  they  were  acquired  or  not,  had  been 
given. 

Mr.  Washington's  merit  consisted  in  constancy.  But  con- 
stancy was  the  common  virtue  of  the  revolution.  Who  was 
there  that  was  inconstant  1  I  know  but  of  one  military  de- 
fection, that  of  Arnold  ;  and  I  know  of  no  political  defection, 
among  those  who  made  themselves  eminent  when  the  revolu- 


XXV 

tion  was  formed  by  the  declaration  of  independence.     Even 
Silas  Deane,  though  he  attempted  to  defraud,  did  not  betray. 

But  when  we  speak  of  military  character,  something  more 
is  to  be  understood  than  constancy  ;  and  something  more 
ought  to  be  understood  than  the  Fabian  system  of  doing  noth- 
ing. The  nothing  part  can*  be  done  by  anybody.  Old  Mrs. 
Thompson,  the  housekeeper  of  headquarters  (who  threatened 
to  make  the  sun  and  the  wind  shine  through  Rivington  of 
New  York)  could  have  done  it  as  well  as  Mr.  Washington. 
Deborah  would  have  been  as  good  as  Barak. 

Mr.  Washington  had  the  national  rank  of  commander-in- 
chief,  but  he  was  not  so  in  fact.  He  had,  in  reality,  only  a 
separate  command.  He  had  no  control  over,  or  direction  of, 
the  army  to  the  northward  under  Gates,  that  captured  Bur- 
goyne ;  or  of  that  to  the  south  under  Greene,  that  recovered 
the  southern  states.  The  nominal  rank,  however,  of  com- 
mander-in-chief,  served  to  throw  upon  him  the  lustre  of  those 
actions,  and  to  make  him  appear  as  the  soul  and  centre  of  all 
military  operations  in  America. 

He  commenced  his  command  June,  1775,  during  the  time 
the  Massachusetts  army  lay  before  Boston,  and  after  the  affair  of 
Bunker's  hill.  The  commencement  of  his  command  was  the 
commencement  of  inactivity.  Nothing  was  afterward  done  or 
attempted  to  be  done,  during  the  nine  months  he  remained 
before  Boston.  If  we  may  judge  from  the  resistance  made 
at  Concord,  and  afterward  at  Bunker's  hill,  there  was  a  spirit 
of  enterprise  at  that  time,  which  the  presence  of  Mr.  Wash- 
ington chilled  into  cold  defence.  By  the  advantage  of  a  good 
exterior  he  attracts  respect,  which  his  habitual  silence  tends 
to  preserve  ;  but  he  has  not  the  talent  of  inspiring  ardor  in  an 
army.  The  enemy  removed  from  Boston  to  Halifax  in  March, 
1776,  to  wait  for  reinforcements  from  Europe,  and  to  take  a 
more  advantageous  position  at  New  York. 

The  inactivity  of  the  campaign  of  1775,  on  the  part  of 
General  Washington,  when  the  enemy  had  a  less  force  than  in 
any  other  future  period  of  the  war,  and  the  injudicious  choice 
of  positions  taken  by  him  in  the  campaign  of  1776,  when  the 
enemy  had  its  greatest  force,  necessarily  produced  the  losses 
and  misfortunes  that  marked  that  gloomy  campaign.  The 
positions  taken  were  either  islands  or  necks  of  land.  In  the 
former,  the  enemy  by  the  aid  of  their  ships,  could  bring  their 
whole  force  against  General  Washington  as  in  the  affair  of 
Long  Island ;  and  in  the  latter,  he  might  be  shut  up  as  in  the 
bottom  of  a  bag.  This  had  nearly  been  the  case  at  New  York, 
and  it  was  so  in  part :  it  was  actually  the  case  at  Fort  Wash- 
ington ;  and  it  would  have  been  the  case  at  Fort  Lee  if  Gen- 
eral Greene  had  not  moved  precipitately  off,  leaving  everything 
behind,  and  by  gaining  Hackensuch  bridge,  got  out  of  the  bag 
of  Bergen  Neck.  How  far,  Mr.  Washington,  as  general,  is 


xxvi  PAINE'S  LETTERS  TO  WASHINGTON. 

blameable  for  these  matters,  I  am  not  undertaking  to  deter- 
mine ;  but  they  are  evidently  defects  in  military  geography. 
The  successful  skirmishes  at  the  close  of  that  campaign  (mat- 
ters that  would  scarcely  be  noticed  in  a  better  state  of  affairs) 
make  the  brilliant  exploits  of  General  Washington's  seven 
campaigns. — No  wonder  we  see  so  much  pusillanimity  in  the 
president,  when  we  see  so  little  enterprise  in  the  general ! 

The  campaign  of  1777  became  famous,  not  by  anything  on 
the  part  of  General  Washington,  but  by  the  capture  of  General 
Burgoyne  and  the  army  under  his  command,  by  the  northern 
army  at  Saratoga,  under  General  Gates.  So  totally  distinct 
and  unconnected  were  the  two  armies  of  Washington  and 
Gates,  and  so  independent  was  the  latter  of  the  authority  of 
the  nominal  commander-in-chief,  that  the  two  generals  did  not 
so  much  as  correspond,  and  it  was  only  by  a  letter  of  General 
(since  governor)  Clinton,  that  General  Washington  was  in- 
formed of  that  event.  The  British  took  possession  of  Phila- 
delphia this  year,  which  they  evacuated  the  next,  just  time 
enough  to  save  their  heavy  baggage  and  fleet  of  transports 
from  capture  by  the  French  Admiral  d'Estaing,  who  arrived 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware  soon  after. 

The  capture  of  Burgoyne  gave  an  eclat  in  Europe  to  the 
American  arms,  and  facilitated  the  alliance  with  France.  The 
eclat,  however,  was  not  kept  up  by  anything  on  the  part  of 
General  Washington.  The  same  unfortunate  languor  that 
marked  his  entrance  into  the  field,  continued  always.  Dis- 
content began  to  prevail  strongly  against  him,  and  a  party  was 
formed  in  Congress  while  sitting  at  Yorktown  in  Pennsylvania, 
for  removing  him  from  the  command  of  the  army.  The  hope, 
however,  of  better  times,  the  news  of  the  alliance  with  France, 
and  the  unwillingness  of  showing  discontent,  dissipated  the 
matter. 

Nothing  was  done  in  the  campaign  of  1778,  1779,  1780,  in 
the  part  where  General  Washington  commanded,  except  the 
taking  Stony  Point  by  General  Wayne.  The  southern  states 
in  the  meantime  were  overrun  by  the  enemy.  They  were  after- 
ward recovered  by  General  Greene,  who  had  in  a  very  great 
measure  created  the  army  that  accomplished  that  recovery. 
In  all  this  General  Washington  had  no  share.  The  Fabian 
system  of  war,  followed  by  him,  began  now  to  unfold  itself 
with  all  its  evils  ;  for  what  is  Fabian  war  without  Fabian  means 
to  support  it  1  The  finances  of  Congress,  depending  wholly 
on  emissions  of  paper  money,  were  exhausted.  Its  credit  was 
gone.  The  continental  treasury  was  not  able  to  pay  the  ex- 
pense of  a  brigade  of  wagons  to  transport  the  necessary 
stores  to  the  army,  and  yet  the  sole  object,  the  establishment 
of  the  revolution,  was  a  thing  of  remote  distance.  The  time 
I  am  now  speaking  of  is  in  the  latter  end  of  the  year  1780. 

In  this  situation  of  things  it  was  found  not  only  expedient, 


WASHINGTON.  XXV11 

but  absolutely  necessary  for  Congress  to  state  the  whole  case 
to  its  ally.  I  know  more  of  this  matter  (before  it  came  into 
Congress,  or  was  known  to  General  Washington),  of  its  prog- 
ress, and  its  issue,  than  I  choose  to  state  in  this  letter. 
Colonel  John  Laurens  was  sent  to  France  as  an  envoy  extra- 
ordinary on  this  occasion,  and  by  a  private  agreement  between 
him  and  me,  I  accompanied  him.  We  sailed  from  Boston  in 
the  Alliance  frigate,  February  eleventh,  1781.  France  had 
already  done  much  in  accepting  and  paying  bills  drawn  by 
Congress  ;  she  was  now  called  upon  to  do  more.  The  event 
of  Colonel  Laurens'  mission,  with  the  aid  of  the  venerable 
minister  Franklin,  was,  that  France  gave  in  money,  as  a  pres- 
ent, six  millions  of  livres,  and  ten  millions  more  as  a  loan, 
and  agreed  to  send  a  fleet  of  not  less  than  thirty  sail-of-the- 
line,  at  her  own  expense,  as  an  aid  to  America.  Colonel 
Laurens  and  myself  returned  from  Brest  the  first  of  June  fol- 
lowing, taking  with  us  two  millions  and  a  half  of  livres  (up- 
ward of  one  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling)  of  the  money 
given,  and  convoying  two  ships  with  stores. 

We  arrived  at  Boston  the  twenty-fifth  of  August  following. 
De  Grasse  arrived  with  the  French  fleet  in  the  Chesapeake  at 
the  same  time,  and  was  afterward  joined  by  that  of  Barras, 
making  thirty-one  sail-of-the-line.  The  money  was  transport- 
ed in  wagons  from  Boston  to  the  bank  of  Philadelphia,  of 
which  Mr.  Thomas  Willing,  who  has  since  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  list  of  petitioners  in  favor  of  the  British  treaty, 
was  then  president.  And  it  was  by  the  aid  of  this  money,  of 
this  fleet,  and  of  Rochambeau's  army,  that  Cornwallis  was 
taken  ;  the  laurels  of  which  have  been  unjustly  given  to  Mr. 
Washington.  His  merit  in  that  affair  was  no  more  than  that 
of  any  other  American  officer. 

I  have  had,  and  still  have,  as  much  pride  in  the  American 
revolution  as  any  man,  or  as  Mr.  Washington  has  a  right  to 
have  ;  but  that  pride  has  never  made  me  forgetful  whence  the 
great  aid  came  that  completed  the  business.  Foreign  aid  (that 
of  France)  was  calculated  upon  at  the  commencement  of  the 
revolution.  It  is  one  of  the  subjects  treated  of  in  the  pam- 
phlet "  Common  Sense,"  but  as  a  matter  that  could  not  be 
hoped  for,  unless  independence  was  declared.  The  aid  how- 
ever was  greater  than  could  have  been  expected. 

It  is  as  well  the  ingratitude  as  the  pusillanimity  of  Mr. 
Washington  and  the  Washington  faction,  that  has  brought 
upon  America  the  loss  of  character  she  now  suffers  in  the 
world,  and  the  numerous  evils  her  commerce  has  undergone, 
and  to  which  it  is  still  exposed.  The  British  ministry  soon 
found  out  what  sort  of  men  they  had  to  deal  with,  and  they 
dealt  with  them  accordingly;  and  if  farther  explanation  was 
wanting,  it  has  been  fully  given  since,  in  the  snivelling  address 
of  the  New  York  chamber  of  commerce  to  the  president,  and 


XXV111 

in  that  of  sundry  merchants  of  Philadelphia,  which  was  not 
much  better. 

When  the  revolution  of  America  was  finally  established  by 
the  termination  of  the  war,  the  world  gave  her  credit  for  great 
character  ;  and  she  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  stand  firm  upon 
that  ground.  The  British  ministry  had  their  hands  too  full 
of  trouble  to  have  provoked  a  rupture  with  her,  had  she  shown 
a  proper  resolution  to  defend  her  rights :  but  encouraged  as 
they  were,  by  the  submissive  character  of  the  American  ad- 
ministration, they  proceeded  from  insult  to  insult,  till  none 
more  were  left  to  be  offered.  The  proposals  made  by  Sweden 
and  Denmark  to  the  American  government  were  disregarded. 
I  know  not  if  so  much  as  an  answer  has  been  returned  to  them. 
The  minister  penitentiary  (as  some  of  the  British  prints  call- 
ed him),  Mr.  Jay,  was  sent  on  a  pilgrimage  to  London,  to  make 
all  up  by  penance  and  petition.  In  the  meantime,  the  lengthy 
and  drowsy  writer  of  the  pieces  signed  Camillus  held  himself 
in  reserve  to  vindicate  everything ;  and  to  sound  in  America 
the  tocsin  of  terror  upon  the  inexhaustible  resources  of  Eng- 
land. Her  resources  says  he,  are  greater  than  those  of  all  the 
other  powers.  This  man  is  so  intoxicated  with  fear  and  fi- 
nance, that  he  knows  not  the  difference  between  plus  and  mi- 
nus— between  a  hundred  pounds  in  hand  and  a  hundred  pounds 
worse  than  nothing. 

The  commerce  of  America,  so  far  as  it  had  been  establish- 
ed, by  all  the  treaties  that  had  been  formed  prior  to  that  by 
Jay,  was  free,  and  the  principles  upon  which  it  was  establish- 
ed were  good.  That  ground  ought  never  to  have  been  depart- 
ed from.  It  was  the  justifiable  ground  of  right :  and  no  tem- 
porary difficulties  ought  to  have  induced  an  abandonment  of 
it  The  case  is  now  otherwise*  The  ground,  the  scene,  the 
pretensions,  the  everything,  is  changed.  The  commerce  of 
America  is  by  Jay's  treaty  put  under  foreign  dominion.  The 
sea  is  not  free  for  her*  Her  right  to  navigate  it  is  reduced  to 
the  right  of  escaping ;  that  is,  until  some  ship  of  England  or 
France  stops  her  vessels,  and  carries  them  into  port.  Every 
article  of  American  produce,  whether  from  the  sea  or  the  land> 
fish,  flesh,  vegetable,  or  manufacture,  is  by  Jay's  treaty  made 
either  contraband  or  seizable.  Nothing  is  exempt.  In  all 
other  treaties  of  commerce  the  article  which  enumerates  the 
contraband  articles,  such  as  firearms,  gunpowder,  &c.,  is  fol- 
lowed by  another  which  enumerates  the  articles  not  contra- 
band :  but  it  is  not  so  in  Jay's  treaty.  There  is  no  exempting 
article.  Its  place  is  supplied  by  the  article  for  seizing  and 
carrying  into  port ;  and  the  sweeping  phrase  of  provisions  and 
other  articles  includes  everything.  There  never  was  such  a 
base  and  servile  treaty  of  surrender,  since  treaties  began  to 
exist. 

This  is  the  ground  upon  which  America  now  stands.     All 


XXIX 

her  rights  of  commerce  and  navigation  areto  begin  a  new,  and 
that  with  loss  of  character  to  begin  with. — If  there  is  sense 
enough  left  in  the  heart,  to  call  a  blush  into  the  cheek,  the 
Washington  administration  must  be  ashamed  to  appear. — And 
as  to  you,  sir,  treacherous  in  private  friendship  (for  so  you 
have  been  to  me,  and  that  in  the  day  of  danger)  and  a  hypo- 
crite in  public  life,  the  world  will  be  troubled  to  decide 
whether  you  are  an  APOSTATE,  or  an  IMPOSTOR— 
Whether  you  have  abandoned  good  principles,  or  whether 
you  ever  had  any.  THOMAS  PAINE. 


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University  of  California 

Berkeley 


GENERAL  LIBRARY  -  U.C.  BERKELEY 


BUDOBM260B 


M280790 

TC 

V 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


